A New Dragon Rider
by dreaming-about-dragons
Summary: When Eyla climbs up on the cliff everything change. She meets not only one, but two dragons. One has a rider. She has always been told dragons are dangerous, but Hiccup shows her different. When there is a big threat, her people have to learn to trust the dragons and they have to work together, with help from the people from Berk. This takes place about a year after HTTYD 2
1. Chapter 1

Eyla stepped out through the front door and looked out over the village. It was pretty much like every other morning. People walking to and from the docks, feeding the animals, some people were going hunting. Eyla took the hampers her mother made and started walking.

"Remember to take the hampers that are broken with you back so I can fix them", her mother called.

"Yeah, yeah", Eyla said.

It was always the same. Bring the hampers to the docks for the fishermen to bring on to the ships to put the fish in, and bring back the ones with holes in them. Her mother had made hampers for years, and for years she had brought them to the docks, or given them to others, like hunters or the butcher. Sometimes her mother also made smallerhampers for berries.

One time when Eyla was little, she was carrying a big hamper full of fish on the docks, and fell and all the fish went back to the ocean. Some of the children made sure she wouldn`t forget it in a hurry, and some of the adults too actually. But it was a long time ago.

As she now was carrying several big hampers she had some trouble seeing exactly where she was going. She bumped into someone, but out of the corner of her eye, she could see that the guy was actually moving closer to her.

"Hey! Watch it!" he said.

That was Ben. Not her favorite person, and she was definitely not his.

A few steps out on the docks, someone tripped her. She could hear the laughs and knew it was on purpose. She threw herself forward and managed to grab the hamper that was rolling towards the water before it fell down.

"Hamper delivery!" someone yelled.

It sounded like Tork. Not her favorite person either.

"Or she is sacrificing them to the ocean", he continued. "Maybe she thinks we`ll get more fish that way."

People laughed. The thing was, she wasn`t really that clumsy. They made her look clumsy. For some reason, some of the people her age had always thought it was fun to make fun of her. Maybe it was a good thing she wasn`t a hunter. She would probably put an arrow in someone by mistake, or they would make her.

Before she went back to her house, she looked up at the sky. She saw some dark dots circulate. Dragons? If it was dragons she hoped that the fishermen wouldn`t have to encounter them. Dragons breathing fire on the men on open ocean could never be good.

Since she didn`t have any hampers to bring back to her mother today, she walked away from the docks and followed the water. After a while she stopped and climbed up on a big rock and sat down. She took out a notebook and a pen from the back of her skirt and looked out over the ocean. The water was calm, the sky was blue. She started drawing and was somewhat happy with the result. She had always liked drawing and was pretty good at it too.

Eyla decided to go back to the house before her mother started wondering where she was. She was in her early twenties, but her mother still had a tendency to worry about her sometimes.

Before she opened the door to the house she looked to the left, at the cliff at the end of the woods. It was a high cliff, but not that wide. She had decided she would climb it someday. She had to get over her fear of heights and she had to do something a little more drastic than climbing a tree. She looked out over the ocean again and saw dragons in the sky. They were far away and didn`t seem to come closer.

It had been a while since the last time the dragons attacked the village. They came every now and then, took some of their animals, set houses on fire. Sometimes people got badly hurt or even killed. But it was a lot worse five or six years ago. They still had to be on their watch, but not like they used to. Eyla hoped this didn`t mean they would be attacked agan.

When the fishermen came home in the evening, Eyla was happy to hear they hadn`t encountered any dragons. They had seen some dragons in the sky far away, but the dragons had never taken notice of them.

But Eyla was still worried that seeing dragons would mean another attack. She didn`t know if anyone else shared her worry, maybe she was the only one. It had been several months since the dragons came last time. Seeing them didn`t necessarily mean they would be attacked.

When she went to bed her worries were gone. No one talked about dragons and it had been a nice evening with food and music.

* * *

The next morning it was the same as the day before. Going to the docks with hampers for the fishermen and bring back the ones with holes in them. This time Eyla was more careful and didn`t get tripped or pushed by anyone.

Eyla decided to climb the cliff today. She could as well do it now as any other day. When she came back to the house her father was gone. He was the chief, so maybe he had a meeting for something. She told her mother she was going for a walk in the woods, maybe draw something. She would be gone for a while. Her mother told her to be careful.

Eyla usually walked in the woods by herself. She had never had any real friends, but she didn`t really mind anymore. She was used to it now, and sometimes she liked being alone.

The woods were quiet. In a way it made her nervous, cause it gave her time to think about what she was going to do when she would arrive at the cliff.

It took her almost an hour to walk through the woods. When she came out from the trees she stopped and looked at the cliff. It was high, very, very high. But if she could do this, she could do anything.

She walked up to the cliff. It was even higher than it looked at a distance. But she had to do it. So, she started climbing. One hand and one foot at a time. She looked up, saw where to put her hands and feet, but was careful not to look down.

Eyla took a deep breath, moved her hand up and placed it on a projecting part of the cliff wall. This was harder than she thought. She rested for a couple of seconds. She breathed out in a sigh and pulled herself up, but the part she was holding came off the cliff wall and at the same time she lost her foothold. She hung on with just one hand. Her heart was beating like a hammer and she was terrified of losing her grip and fall the long way down. Why had she decided to do this? And alone. Now she was probably going to die.

She swung her body towards the cliff again and got a new grip of the cliff. Her heart was still beating like crazy, but she had to make it to the top. There was no going back now.

When she finally reached the top she breathed out of relief and just sat there to calm down. Then she got up on her knees and then up on her feet. The view was amazing. You could see so far. On her right she could see the village far down there. Straight ahead a river coiled up.

"Wow."

She never knew it looked like this. It was beautiful. Now she was glad she was up here. She took a few steps and squinted. Was that a dragon?

She was closer to the edge than she thought and suddenly she felt the ground move under her feet. Her eyes went from right to left as she realized what was happening. The ground disappeared under her feet and she fell into thin air. She screamed in horror and groped after something to grab, but there was nothing there.

Something was sticking out from the ledge and she grabbed it. She held on to it and then started wondering what it was she was holding on to. It was dark blue and looked like a tail. The short moment of relief of getting something to hold on to, changed to fear as she was lift up. She held her breath, waited anxiously to see what it was. Her eyes were wide open. That was a dragon! It was big and blue and looked at her with cold yellow eyes. Eyla hardly dared to breathe and didn't dare to think about what would happen. Either way she was going to die.

Then it flickered its tail and she screamed as she flew up. She landed on the top of the cliff and crawled away from the edge. But the relief was very short, she could hear the wingbeats come closer. She turned around and saw the dragon land only a couple of feet away from her. She crawled backwards until a big rock stopped her.

The dragon stopped in front of her and stretched out its head towards her. She hardly dared to breathe and her heart threatened to jump out of her chest. The dragon sniffed at her and looked at her. She meet its eyes, it was hard to look away. He, or she? was scary beautiful, but mostly scary.

Eyla felt something she couldn`t describe. The dragon blinked a few times, lightly shook its head and blew on her before it turned around and flew away.

Eyla was breathing heavily, still scared, but relieved that she was alive, even though she didn`t understand what just happened.

She stood up and just stood there to get here breathing to slow down and her heart to beat slower.

"How did you get up here?"

She quickly turned around and saw a black dragon. She screamed and stumbled backwards and slipped on a stone and fell. She quickly sat up and moved backwards a few steps.


	2. Chapter 2

The dragon moved a little and someone on its back straightened up. It was a guy her age with beautiful eyes and tousled hair. She stood up.

"So, how did you get up here?" he asked again.

"I uh… climbed. She scratched the back of her head. And kind of flew", she added with a lower voice.

"Why? Just to enjoy the view? Which by the way is amazing."

Who was this guy? And what was he doing on a dragon?

"I eh… trying to do something about my fear of heights…"

The guy smiled a little and looked at her with an amused glimpse in his eyes.

"So how do you plan to get down?" he asked.

That was a very good question. She felt really silly. She never thought about actually getting down, all she had thought about was getting up there.

" haven`t really thought about that."

"Do you wanna climb down or fly?"

"Did I mention I`m afraid of heights?"

"And yet you climbed all the way up here alone." He smiled a crooked little smile. "You only have two options. Climb down, or fly."

Eyla squinted a little and looked at the dragon.

"Is it safe?"

"As safe as anything else." He looked down. "Probably safer."

That didn`t really make her feel better. She looked at the dragon and the guy, then down the steep cliff wall.

"Fine", she said and looked at them.

She slowly walked up to the dragon, nervous not only about flying down. The guy helped her up and she awkwardly put her arms around him. When the dragon took off, it fluttered in her stomach and she gasped. At first the dragon was calm and she started to relax. But then it flew faster, made sudden turns and dived. Eyla screamed and clung to the guy. The dragon calmed down and flew straight again.

"Did I mention I´m afraid of heights or did you just forget?" she asked.

"He just didn`t listen. He does that sometimes when someone new is on his back."

"Great."

When the dragon landed and Eyla got off, her legs were shaking and she had to sit down on a stump.

"I do not wanna do that again", Eyla said. She looked at the guy, like she just now realized that he was actually riding a dragon. "Wait, you ride a dragon?"

The guy smiled and nodded.

"But.. uh.. they´re… I…" She was gesturing and could see the dragon follow her hand with its eyes and she stopped. "Dragons are dangerous!"

"He`s not dangerous. He`s a Night Fury, so technically he`s the most dangerous dragon", he said gesturing with his hand, "but no, he`s not dangerous. He`s my best friend."

Eyla didn`t really feel convinced. She looked at the Night Fury and the guy. She didn`t know what to believe. She had always been taught that dragons were dangerous. But it was something about that dragon. Then she saw that the guy had a prosthetic. The fake leg was such a natural part of him she hadn`t even thought about it. He must have had it for a long time cause it didn`t seem to bother him at all.

"What happened to your leg?"

The guy looked down at his left leg and moved it a little.

"We were in the sky, got hit and we fell and he couldn`t save all of me. But it was a long time ago." He shrugged.

He didn`t say any more and Eyla didn`t want to ask.

"Okay… So, I should get going." She started to turn around but stopped. "What`s your name?"

"Hiccup."

"I`m Eyla. So… Thank you Hiccup, and…."

"Toothless."

She raised her eyebrows.

"And Toothless… for getting me down."

She raised her hand and slowly stretched it out towards the dragon. He looked at her curiously. Then she realized what she was doing and stopped and let her arm fall down. She turned around and left them.

Hiccup got up on Toothless and watched her leave.

"There`s something about her."

Toothless agreed.

* * *

Eyla walked through the woods and thought about everything that just happened. How she did climb that cliff. The amazing view. And how she almost fell all the way down, grabbed the tail of a dragon and got tossed up again, And then that dragon as black as the night that almost scared her to death, and that guy with the beautiful eyes. When she thought about the flight down her legs started shaking again and she had to lean against a tree until it stopped.

When she came home her mother wondered where she had been for so long and she just said she had been wandering around in the woods. She couldn`t tell anyone about the rest.


	3. Chapter 3

The following days Eyla had a lot to think about. She took the hampers to the docks like always, and tried to stay away from people on her way there. Sometimes she found herself looking up at the sky to see if she saw the black dragon or the blue dragon. But she didn`t see any of them. She wondered where that Hiccup came from and if there were others who rode dragons where he live.

* * *

Eyla decided to walk in the woods again. She took her notebook and pen with her. Maybe she would see something she wanted to draw. Some of the young men also went into the woods to go hunting, so Eyla stuck to the edge of the woods so she wouldn`t be in the way. She had cliffs on her right so she stayed away from the edge. She didn`t want to risk falling down again, even if this time she would fall into water.

When she had been walking for a while she walked out from the trees and looked at the view. It was very nice. The sky was blue, the ocean was peaceful. She took out her notebook and her pen and sat down and started drawing. She didn`t hear the wingbeats until the second before the dragon landed on her left. She quickly got up on her feet and backed away. It was the blue dragon, it just looked at her. Her heart was beating fast and she didn`t know what to do. She hoped that the dragon hadn`t saved her earlier just to eat her now.

But the dragon didn`t jump on her, or breathe fire on her. It walked slowly towards her, almost looking curious, but Eyla couldn`t help but take a few steps back. It wasn`t as big as she first thought, but big enough. She saw shifts in its eyes and wondered what it was thinking. Could they think or did they just act on instinct?

"Yes! I hit it!" someone yelled.

Eyla twitched and so did the dragon. She was afraid it would attack her. It growled a little, but let her be. It spread its wings and took off. Eyla let out a sigh. She started walking towards the sound. Soon she saw Ben and Tork. She should have known. They had been talking about a big bird that was hard to hit with the arrow, but apparently today was their lucky day.

* * *

It was a new day and Eyla was headed towards the docks with hampers. When she came down to the water she walked out on the pier to hand over the hampers. This time there were some hampers that had holes in them, so she had to take them back to her mother so she could fix them.

She had piled a couple of hampers on each other. The hampers were pretty big, and holding the pile, it was taller than her, so she had some trouble watching where she was going. Someone pushed her and she lost balance. She stumbled and tripped over a rope that tied a ship to the pier. As she fell she pushed someone and dropped the hampers. She landed on her back. The man she accidentally pushed had been carrying a hamper full of fish, and now all that fell on her. She screamed. The people around the docks laughed and she felt so embarrassed. It wasn`t even her fault. She moved the fish from her body and quickly started walking home. This was not how she wanted to start the day.

"What`s that smell?" her mother asked when she entered the house.

"It was not my fault. And not what I wanted to do."

"So what happened? You smell like you took a bath in a bathtub full of fish."

"Well, I didn`t see where I was going cause of the hampers, someone pushed me, I tripped. And pushed someone and got a lot of fish over me."

"You definitely need a bath", her mother said.

"Already on my way."

"Did you bring the hampers back?"

"They`re still on the docks. I need a bath. And I`m not going back there anytime soon. At least not today."

Her mother didn`t say anything. She boiled water to pour in the bathtub in the back of the house, and told Eyla to go outside. She did not want the whole house to smell like fish.

So Eyla sat down outside the house and waited for her mother to come tell her the bath was ready.

Her father came walking up to the house. He stopped next to her and looked at her.

"What happened to you?" he asked.

"Someone thought I needed a fish bath?"

Her father laughed a little, but stopped when he saw the look on her face.

"Only you", he said. "It would only happen to you."

"Because they are mean. They are always mean to me!"

"They are young. They just want to have some fun."

"But it is on my expense. And they make me clumsy!"

Her father thought about it for a second.

"Maybe sometimes. But they are just boys."

The door opened.

"Oh, Brand, you´re back. What did the others say about the dragons?"

Eyla looked up at them. She knew dragons had been seen closer to the island.

"We wait, he said. But we are prepared."

"Have you seen Eyla?"

"I`m right here."

Her mother took a step outside and looked down and smiled.

"Your bath is ready. I suggest you walk straight to it."

Eyla did so. While she enjoyed the warm water she could hear her parents talk in the kitchen, but she couldn`t hear what they were saying. But she guessed they were talking about dragons.

When Eyla`s hair had dried a little, she decided to walk in the woods. She needed to be alone, and she didn`t want to stay in the village.

She had been walking for quite a while, just walking through the woods. So her father thought they just wanted to have some fun. Well, maybe, but it was on her expense. There should be other ways they could have fun.

She tripped over a root and fell flat on her stomach. She looked up and what she saw made her crawl back up on her feet. The blue dragon was standing in front of her and looked at her. Her heart was pounding

The dragon was just standing there, looking at her. Then it took a few steps towards her and Eyla slowly took a few steps back. The dragon slowly came closer and stretched out its head towards her, and her heart started beating even faster. But the dragon just looked at her. It didn`t touch her. She met the dragon`s eyes and got the same strange feeling as up on the cliff. It blew a puff of smoke at her.

"Okay… So you`re not going to hurt me", Eyla said. "I hope."

She took a deep breath and breathed out. Cautiously and hesitant she raised her hand and stretched it out towards the dragon. She hesitated a few inches from the dragon`s nose. Afraid that maybe it would hurt her after all. She took a deep breath again and touched the dragon. The scaly nose was warm. The dragon looked her in the eyes. It was like the time stood still.

A bransch broke somewhere in the woods and both Eyla and the dragon twitched and quickly pulled back. The dragon let out a flame. Then it quickly turned around, ran a few steps while it unfolded its swings and took off. Eyla watched it as it flew away. She looked down on her sweater. Nothing, The flame had come out of surprise from a startled dragon. It wasn`t meant to hurt her.

She started walking back towards the village. It didn`t take long before she saw Ben and Tork.

"What are you doing in the woods alone?" Ben asked. "Don`t you know they`ve seen dragons close to the island again?"

"Yeah… I was just…. setting out some traps", Eyla said.

She did that occasionally.

"Are you sure they can actually trap the rabbit?" Tork asked doubtfully.

"Yes, I am."

Okay, so she had had some trouble wth the traps when she was younger. But hat was a long time ago.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Eyla asked.

"Hunting", Ben said.

She noticed the bow and arrow in his hand, and the sword Tork had in his belt. She wondered what they were hunting but didn`t ask. Since Tork had a sword, maybe they hoped to encounter a dragon.

"Okay, so… I know you don`t like me that much, but maybe you can walk me back to the village? You don`t want me to be eaten by a dragon do you?"

Ben and Tork looked at each other.

"No, I guess not", Ben said.

Eyla started walking and they followed. They didn`t talk to her, and she didn`t try to talk to hem.

* * *

It was dark when the dragons attacked. Eyla heard noices and yelling outside and soon realised they were under attack. The dragons had come back. She heard men yelling and running, dragons screamed.

Eyls opened the door and took a step outside. Several dragons were in the sky. One dragon shot fire at a house and it caught fire. She hoped no one was inside. She looked up when she heard a dragon scream when it was hit. Eyla was afraid of the dragons and that some of her people would get hurt. But at the same time she couldn`t help but worry about the blue dragon and wondered if it was out there somewhere.

"Get inside!" her mother pulled her inside. "You can`t be out there. It`s not safe! No place is safe!"

They both looked up at the ceiling with fear in their eyes when they heard a loud thud. There was a dragon on their roof. They looked at the ceiling, held on to each other as they moved with the sounds of the dragon walking on the roof. They both breathed out of relief when they heard the dragon take off.

"That is why you _never _go outside when we are under attack!" her mother said. "You know that!"

After the attack two houses had burned down, ten people were hurt, but no dead. The dragons had taken most of their sheep and some goats. No one slept well that night. They knew from experience that the dragons wouldn`t come back for a while, but everyone was shaken and the fear stayed through the night.


	4. Chapter 4

Eyla sat in the big room in her family`s house. She thought about the blue dragon. She was quite sure it was a "he". She thought about the moment they touched, how it felt like the time stood still. It was like something she had never felt before. Her father, and everyone else, have alwyas said dragons were dangerous, she had been told so since before she could walk. She had believed it. Now she wasn`t so sure. That black dragon, Toothless – what a name for a dragon- didn`t seem so dangerous, and the blue dragon didn`t seem dangerous either. But she wasn`t sure. The attack the other night had scared everyone, like it always did, even if some people would never admitt it.

She still wondered about the first time she encountered the blue dragon. How she grabbed his tail falling down the cliff. Why he didn`t do anything to her when she held on to his tail. Or when she had been thrown up on the cliff again. Why he had just looked at her. Dragons attacked and they killed. They didn`t just look at you. Maybe this dragon was different…

"Eyla, are you awake or are you sleeping?" her mother asked when she entered the room. "You look like you are sleeping with your eyes open."

Eyla blinked and looked at her.

"No, I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"Nothing special."

Her mother looked at her.

"Can you set out some traps in the woods?" she asked.

"You don`t think I will mess up?"

"No, I don`t."

* * *

While Eyla was walking in the woods setting out traps, she thought more about dragons and the attack. She had started to see dragons differently, but the attack scared her. They were wild creatures. No one got killed last night, but people had been killed by dragons.

Some birds took of from the ground and startled her, and she lost balance. She got her foot under a root and tumbled down a wall of rocks and loose stones. She hurt her wrist and ankle. When she came down she looked around the cove. She moved her hand to test her wrist. It was painful but it wasn`t broken. She got up on her feet. Her ankle hurt, but she could walk, not without limping. She took some painful steps and looked around again. She would have to climb, but with her ankle and wrist in pain, it wasn`t something she wanted to do. There had to be some other way she could get out of there.

She stopped when she saw the blue dragon. He walked towards her, but she still felt worried. He stopped a few feet away from her. The dragon sat down, which surprised Eyla. He still just looked at her.

"Looks like we are both stuck here", Eyla said. "Or rather, I am. You can fly."

The dragon didn`t move for a little while. Then he stood up and lift his swings, and she saw a spear that was stuck under the left wing. So the dragon had been hit during the attack. But for some reason she didn`t think he had been there to hurt anyone, although she didn`t know why she thought so. Still she was nervous when she slowly walked up to the dragon and grabbed the spear. She had to calm herself down before pulling the spear out of the dragon, afraid he would bite her or burn her. The dragon made a sound, but did nothing to harm her. When the spear was out the dragon flapped his swings and Eyla stepped back. He stood still and looked at her and then came closer. She took a few steps back and the dragon stopped. He lay down and put his swings on the ground. Eyla looked at the dragon.

"Wait", she said suspiciously. "You want me to get up on your back? Fly?"

The dragon let out a puff of smoke. She looked at it for a few seconds.

"Fine", she said. "But no sudden turns, no free falling, no diving. Or I`m getting off. Wait, no I won`t. Just… be nice. Okay?"

The dragon looked slightly offended.

She carefully climbed up on the dragon and sat down in front of the wings. It fluttered in her stomach when the dragon took off. She felt a little nervous. The dragon flew higher and higher. Eyla looked down, but quickly looked up again.

"Bad idea. Really bad dea."

The dragon leveled off. Eyla was afraid of falling down, but the dragon calmly flew forward. They where wery high up, much higher than she ever wanted to be, but it started to feel quite okay. She started to relax a little. But then the dragon turned, and made a quick turn down.

"No, no, no, no, no, no! Not ready for that. You ave to fly straight and calm."

The dragon straightened up and Eyla breathed out.

The dragon flew lower and got closer to the water. Eyla stretched out her hand to touch the water that splashed up. She started to like this. This was actually fun.

The dragon rose into the air again, but not as fast. Eyla looked down again, but didn`t feel so afraid this time. The dragon flew towards the island again and landed in an open area in the woods. Eyla stayed on the dragon for a few seconds.

"That was amazing." She got of the dragon, stretched out her hand, hesitated, and then pet the dragon. "Thank you."

* * *

Hiccup and Toothless were at the cove, where he first got to know Toothless. It had become one of his favorite places. Nothing could beat flying with Toothless, but this was where it all started, and maybe that was why it had become his favorite place.

Hiccup was sitting down, leaning his back agains the lying dragon. Hiccup looked at the shallow water. It was peaceful here. No one else never really came here, and if they did, it was usually Astrid or Valka, looking for him.

So much had happenes since the day he was going to kill the Night Fury, but just couldn`t find it in him to do it. And now he was the chief. He wiped away a tear. It had been almost a year since his father died, and now he was the chief. They even had a dragon race in honor of Stoick. That was Astrid`s idea. Hiccup did his best to be a chief his father could be proud of. But Stoick`s shoes were very big to fill. Especially since he wasn`t there to help him. He wasn`t just away on a long trip, he would never see him again. He wiped away another tear.

He started thinking about the girl instead. Eyla. He had thought about her every now and then the last couple of days. Had she really climbed up that cliff just to look at the view? Without a plan how to get down? And before she left, how she almost touched Toothless, like she wasn`t really aware of what she was doing, and then changed her mind.

"What do you say we go find that girl again?" Hiccup asked Toothless.

He could feel the dragon move, about to get up.

"No, not today", Hiccup said. "Tomorrow. It`s too late to go today."

"Hiccup?" a girl called.

Hiccup looked up at the opening between the big rocks and saw Astrid standing there. She climbed down and walked over to him. She sat down next to him and kissed him on his cheek.

"Thinking about your dad?" she asked.

"One of the things", Hiccup said looking at the water again.

"People were wondering where you were."

"Yeah, well, you know me. I hide."

He wasn`t really hiding, and they both knew it.

"I don`t know if I`m any good at this", he continued.

"He would be proud of you", Astrid said and took his hand.

"I hope so…"

"You know he would."

"Okay then", HIccup said after a little while and stood up. They started walking. "What did they want?"

"Some people just wanted to know if you were gonna be in the race", Astrid said.

"What do you say Toothless? You wanna race?"

Toothless nodded eagerly.

"Okay then." Hiccup smiled. "What did the others want?"

"It was just me and Valka wondering where you were."

The race started shortly after they came back. Both Hiccup and Toothless enjoyed the race. It was fun, it was fast. Hiccup and Toothless won, not to anyone`s surprise.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you for the follows and faves, and reviews. I really appreciatet it. I have two people, not on the site, also reading the story, and they love it. It really means a lot to me when someone like my stories, and I hope you will like this chapter as well.**

**Guest. You will find the answer to some of your questions in this chapter. And a sequel. Wow. I haven`t even thought about that. I`m still just in the beginning of the story.**

* * *

The next morning Hiccup got ready to fly to that island with Toothless. He told his mother he was going to be gone for a little while.

"Where are you going?" Valka asked.

"There`s something I have to do", Hiccup said. "I`ll be be gone for a little while, a few days."

"Where are you going?"

Hiccup got upp n Toothless and put his left leg in place.

"I`ll be back soon."

Toothless turned around and spread hi swings and took off.

"Hiccup!" Valka called after them. "You can`t just leave!" No reaction. "You are chief now!" she tried, but they kept going.

* * *

Eyla`s mother asked her to check the traps she set out the day before. The sky was grey, so she didn`t want Eyla to be gone too long in case there would be a storm. She didn`t want Eyla to be out in the woods if it started to flash.

The first traps were empty, and she continued further into the woodss. The next two traps had one rabbit each and she took them with her to check the last traps. She had walked for a while when she realised she could smell smoke. She had mostly been looking at the ground or to the sides, but now that she looked up and saw straight ahead, she saw fire. It hadn`t been raining for a while and the ground was dry, so the fire moved fast. She hadn`t heard any thunder or seen any lightning yet, and no one was stupid enough to let a fire burn uncontrollably when it was this dry. And on the other side of the woods, and the fire, was the coast. So how did the fire start?

She realized the fire moved closer and she better start moving. There was no way she could put it out, and she definitely could not stay there. She turned around and started running. But her ankle still hurt a little and she couldn`t run as fast as usual.

She turned left and came out of the woods. She kept running but suddenly had to stop to not fall off the edge. She forgot about the ravine. The gap was maybe 20 feet and it was a maybe 100 feet drop. Even if she was no longer among the trees, it was grass on the ground, almost up to the edge, and grass burns. She couldn`t jump 20 feet. She was trapped. Even if the fire wouldn`t kill her, the heat would.

"Help! Someone!" she screamed though she knew it was useless. "Someone please help me!"

She looked around again. If she went back into the woods, the fire would get her, she couldn`t outrun it.

"Help!" she screamed as she turned around.

She had no choice. She had to jump. She walked towards the trees and turned around. She took a deep breath and ran towards the edge.

Just as she was about to jump, something grabbed her shoulders and she was lift up. She screamed. They flew over the ravine.

"Put me down! Please! Put me down!"

"Hold still and we`ll put you down in a few seconds."

Hiccup.

When her feet hit the ground she ran a few steps and then turned around and looked at Hiccup who was standing next to Toothless.

"I never wanna do that again!"

"We just saved your life", Hiccup said.

"I was just about to jump."

"I don`t think you can jump that far", Hiccup said.

Eyla put her hands over her eyes and then sat down on a big rock.

"Can you at least warn me next time?"

"So you do want a next time?

"No!" She did not want to do that again.

It started to rain. It only took a few seconds before it was pouring down. It began to thunder. Hiccup said they could take her to her village.

"No, you can`t. They will kill him", Eyla said and looked at the Night Fury. "And I´m not flying in this weather", she said when they saw a lightning in the sky. "And neither should you. Come. I think there`s a cave not far from here."

It took them a few minutes to get to the cave. They were soaked and cold when they got there. But they could only wait for the rain to stop.

Hiccup looked at Eyla.

"So what were you doing on that cliff?"

Eyla looked at the ground, then she raised her eyes and looked at the rain.

"I`m afraid of heights", she said. "Always have been. I`ve tried climbing trees, but that didn`t really work. And I got stuck on the way down, more than once. Hanging on a branch 10 feet off the ground is not that much fun. Especially when everyone else thinks it hilarious."

_That could have happened to me, _Hiccuo thought.

Eyla told him she decided to climb that cliff to provet hat she could do something that took come courrage. She had been kind of a coward growing up.

"So you climbed that cliff just to provet that you could?" Hiccup asked after a little while. "With no plan on how to get down."

"Yes, pretty much. I just… I needed to know that I could. The others, they don`t think much of me, and think it`s fun to make me look clumsy."

Toothless had come closer to Eyla, curious about her. He sniffed her and nudged her. Eyla put his hand on his head while she was talking. HIccup thought it was quite fascinating. She didn`t really seem aware of what she was doing, and it was almost like it was a natural gesture, like she was petting a cat or a dog. But then she realised how close the dragon was and pulled back her hand and stood up. She told him about the time she tripped on the docks and a hamper almost rolled into the water. And when she got all the fish over her.

Hiccup looked at her. He knew how she felt. _That`s something that could have happened to me. Maybe if…. Maybe if we would have met when we were younger…._

It stopped raining. They both sat there for a little while before they started to move.

"I need to get home", Eyla said. "My parents must be worried. Especially my mom."

"Sure you don`t want us to take you there?"

"They will kill you. I`m serious. I was told dragons are dangerous before I could wak. Believe me. They hate dragons. They are dangerous."

Sounded like his father and the rest of the village until six years ago.

"Not all dragons are dangerous", Hiccuo said.

"No, I guess not. But they do not want to know that. It`s best if I go alone. It`s really not that far."

They said good bye and Eyla started waling towards the village. Hiccup looked at her. _I`m starting to like her, she`s interesting. And she`s… _He didn`t finish the thought.

* * *

When Eyla came home, her mother came as soon as she stepped through the doorway.

"Where have you been? I was so worried."

"I`m fine. I waited for the rain to stop in a cave. I… forgot the rabbits though." She had probably dropped them when she ran from the fire.

"We saw the smoke, I was afraid there was a fire."

"There was a fire, but the rain put it out. I`m fine!" She said when her mother looked for injuries.

"Sigrid!" Eyla`s father said. "She says she`s fine."

"Okay, okay", Eyla`s mother said. "Are you hungry?"

Eyla nodded. It was a few hours since she had eaten, and she was a bit hungry.

* * *

On the way back, Hiccup decided to stop and stay the night, instead of going home, and go back to the island the next morning. They flew a while longer and then landed on the beach of an island. Hiccup and Toothless checked the surroundings and decided to spend the night on the beach.

It was dark. Hiccup sat in the sand with his back against Toothless. His wing covered Hiccup`s body like a blanket. He looked out on the dark water. The sky was dark and the stars were shining. Somehow it made him feel small.

Hiccup thought about his father, like he had done so many times lately. Maybe because it was almost a year since he died. Maybe because he was still wondering if he could be the kind of chief his father had been. He had changed a lot in the last six years. Much of it thanks to Toothless. Now he was the chief, and Toothless was the alpha. Hiccup sighed. One day he was gonna make his father proud. He looked up at the stars and blinked away some tears. Then he closed his eyes, but it took a while to fall asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Eyla took the hampers and walked to the docks. It was a nice day and for some reason she was in a good mood. Some people wished her a good morning, and that did actually not happen every day.

When she came down to the ships, she walked out on the pier.

"Eyla, catch!" someone said.

She turned around and saw something come flying towards her. By reflex she dropped the hampers to catch the thing someone threw at her. She caught it, stumbled backwards and fell into the water. She screamed as she fell. Some of the hampers bounced on the pier when she dropped them and fell into the water around her.

"Get the hampers out of the water", someone said.

_The hampers? What about me? _Eyla thought. She walked on the shore with water dripping from her clothes, angry as a bee. She walked up on the pier again, took the hampers that needed t be fixed and walked straight home. She didn`t look at anyone as she left, but if she could, she eyes would have shot lightning bolts. Why couldn`t they just leave her alone?

At home, she threw the hampers on the floor, and went to her room to change to dry clothes.. Then she took her notebook and a pen and walked through the house to the front door. Her mother called after her, wonderng what happened and why it was wet everywhere. Eyla just said she was going to the woods.

* * *

She had walked through the woods to the coast and was now sitting on the cliffs, at safe distance from the edge. The ravine she had planned to jump over was on the other sides ide of the island. The sky was blue and the water down there glittered. It was a nice view. She liked the view from here, but she always stayed away from the edge.

She took out her notebook and pen and started drawing the blue dragon. Then, for some reason, she started drawing the incident that happened this morning.

"Hello."

Eyla gave a low scream and almost fell on her back out of surprise. When she sat up again she saw Hccup and Toothless in the air. Still looking at them she grabbed a stone with her left hand and threw at Hiccup. He ducked but the stone still hit his head.

"Ow." He looked at her. "I thought you were right-handed."

"I`m both."

Toothless landed on the cliff and Hiccup got off.

"At least I warned you this time", Hiccup said and smiled.

"Not much of a warning", she said.

"So what are you doing?" he asked and sat down next to her.

"Just drawing", she said and made some lines.

Hiccup looked at the drawing that started to take form. It looked like Toothless.

From the corner of her eye,, Eyla saw Toothless walk towards the trees, then she heard the sound of a tree breaking. Eyla looked at Toothless, who walked on his hindlegs and drew lines with the tree on the ground. Eyla pointed at him while looking at Hiccup, not knowing what to say. Hiccup smiled.

"He likes drawing too. But don`t step on the lines. He hates that." He looked at her notebook. "Can I see?"

"I… eh… sure." She handed it to him.

He looked at the drawing of Toothless. It was good. He looked through some of the first pages, and then skimmed some pages.

"You´re good", he said. "I like drawing too, and inventing things." He turned some more pages. Another dragon. He stopped at the drawing of the mornings incident. "What`s this?" He held up the notebook so she could see.

"Yeah, well… it… it happened this morning", she said and kicked a stone over the edge. "They think it`s fun. I just want them to leave me alone."

_It`s like when… _He didn`t finish the thought, distracted by a dragon that came flying and landed on the cliff. The dragon was quite big and dark blue with yellow eyes. Hiccup looked at Eyla and saw a hint of a smile. He stood up and walked towards the newcomer.

"I´ve never seen a dragon like this", he said. "He`s beautiful. What kind of dragon is it?"

"A blue dragon?" Eyla said, raising her shoulder.

Hiicup slowly reached out to touch the dragon and he lowered his head to meet his hand. Hiccup looked at Eyla.

"You`re not afraid."

"No. I… eh… I…"

"You know him. I saw the hint of a smile."

"You know when you scared me half to death on that cliff?"

Hiccup smiled and nodded.

"Well, I met this dragon first, actually I grabbed his tail when I fell off the cliff. He threw me up again, and came after and just… looked at me. And…"

The blue dragon nudged her.

"I´ve seen him a few times after that", she continued and smiled when the dragons greeted each other and started playing. "Somehow he seemed curious. And it was like… When we touched it was like the time stood still. It was like…"

"You had a Connection", Hiccup said.

Eyla nodded.

"That`s because you´re special", Hiccup said.

Eyla looked at him, with raised eyebrows. That was not what she expected to hear.

"Uh… I… uh… Hiccup said and put his hand on the back of his head. "I mean… I mean, you understand dragons."

"I do?"

"Yeah, you do", Hiccup said and smiled when the blue dragon came to put his head under Eyla`s hand.

Hiccup looked at her. He saw a little smile and could tell she really liked the dragon. She pet the dragons head and he seemed to enjoy it.

"Have you ridden on him?"

"Just once", she said and looked at him.

"Then lets go", Hiccup said and smiled.

Eyla looked at him for a few seconds, then a smile grew and she nodded. Hiccup jumped up on Toothless and put the prosthesis in place. Eyla climbed up on the blue dragon and both dragons walked towards the edge and took off. As always, it fluttered in Eyla`s stomach when the dragon left the ground.

Now that she saw them fly, Eyla could see how much Hiccup enjoyed it, how much they both enjoyed it. All she could see and feel from the two of them was happiness, and how free Hiccup felt. Eyla herself, relaxed faster this time. She also enjoyed it more than last time, and she did feel quite free.

The dragons rose higher and higher in a wide spiral around each other. Then they leveled off. Toothless turned upside down. Hiccup let go of the handles and let his upper body hang. He held out his arms. Eyla smiled when she saw them, not that she would dare to do the same.

The happy feeling suddenly changed to horror, when her dragon also turned upside down.

"No, no, no, no!" she screamed.

She had nothing to hold on to, she didn`t have a saddle, and there were no spikes or anything else. Gravity pulled her down and she fell. She screamed. _Oh gods, Oh gods. I`m going to die. I`m going to die!_

"Toothless!" Hiccup said and grabbed the handles again.

Toothless dived. The blue dragon realized he lost his rider and dived after them.

Eyla tried to calm down, how do you do that when you´re falling into thin air, but her heart was raising and she panicked. She screamed. She closed her eyes. She still had her back down and didn`t know if she would land on the ground or in the water. All she knew was that it would kill her and she had never been so scared in her entire life.

Toothless caught up and Hiccup told her turn around. She didn`t want to at first, she didn`t want to know how close to the ground she was, and he had to tell her again. Hiccup reached out and took her hand, and pulled her up on the dragon.

"Get me down!" she said through clenched teeth, emphasising every word.

They landed on the same place as they took off from, and Eyla walked over to a tree on shaky legs and sat down, leaning her back against the trunk. She pulled up her legs, put her hands over her eyes, leaning the elbows on the knees. She just sat there trying to calm down and didn`t say anything for a while.

"Are you okay?" Hiccup asked.

"Yeah… I just could have died!"

"You weren`t even Close", Hiccup said and sat down next to her. "We caught you. And your dragon dived after you too. You just need some practice."

"I could have hit the water, or the ground."

"But you didn`t. Like I said, you weren`t even close. I have fallen, more than once. The others have too. But I trust Toothless, and they trust their dragons." He looked at the blue dragon and then at Eyla again. "Your dragon is young. That`s why he was curious about you. And he has probably never had a rider before. You need to practice, you need to get to know each other more for more teamwork."

Eyla looked at him for a few seconds.

"Will you help me?"

"I would love to." Hiccup smiled. "Let`s try again tomorrow."

Hiccup had to go back home, but said they would be back n the late afternoon the next day. Eyla headed back to the village. Despite falling towards a certain death, she was excited about tomorrow. She looked forward to see Hiccup and Toothless again so soon, and learn more about flying. She had been terrified when the dragon had turned upside down, and there was no way for her to stop the fall, but there was a freedom in riding the dragon that she had never felt before.

* * *

It was in the middle of the night when Hiccup and Toothless came back to Berk, but they still went to the forge to make a saddle for Eyla`s blue dragon. Hiccup was in the middle of making the saddle when Gobber came through the door, wondering what in the world he was doing there in the middle of the night.

"Making a saddle", Hiccup said.

"Toothless needs a new saddle and you can`t wait till morning?"

"His saddle is fine."

"One of the other dragons need a new saddle? Did Astrid ask you to make one for Stormfly?"

"No."

"Then what are you doing?"

"I`m just making a saddle", Hiccup said.

Gobber looked at him for a few seconds, but when Hiccup didn`t explain, he left. Hiccup didn`t really know why he didn`t tell Gobber. He was one of the villagers that knew him best, having been a close friend to his father. Maybe he just wanted to keep this to himself a little while longer.

When the saddle was done, he was really tired and fell asleep. Toothless had already curled up and was sleeping. After only a couple of hours of sleep, Hiccup and Toothless headed back to the island with the new saddle. When Astrid and Valka saw them, they were already too high up in the air to hear them if they would shout at them. But both of them wondered where they were going.


	7. Chapter 7

When Eyla went to the docks the next day, she was in a good mood. And she was still in a good mood when she left the docks to walk home again with no hampers to bring back to her mother.

But it was very close her good mood was ruined. On her way back to the house, she passed Ben who was practicing archery with his little brother Albin. He was eight years old and not much like Ben at all, and Eyla hoped he never would be.

She could hear, and feel, the arrow passing her ear, touching the hair, but not scratching the ear.

"Sorry!" she heard Albin call.

She could hear in his voice that he was genuinely sorry, and that he never meant to hurt her. But if it had been Ben who shot the arrow, she wouldn`t be so sure. He was good enough to aim that close to her ear, without actually hitting it.

"Do you really think it`s a good idea", she said and turned around, "to be in the middle of the village practicing archery, instead of outside the village at the targets? Someone can get seriously hurt". She tried to sound calm, but there was a tone of anger in her voice.

"But no one has gotten hurt", Ben said innocently, but she saw the glimmer in his eyes.

"Maybe we should go", Albin said. "I don`t want to hit anyone."

Ben glared at her, then he put his hands on Albin`s shoulders and steered him towards the targets. That could have ruined her good mood, but since it was an accident, and it was Albin, it didn`t.

Back at the house, she helped her mother bring out the things she needed to fix the hampers. Sigrid hadn`t had the time to fix the hampers Eyla brought back yesterday, so she was going to do that now. It was also time to make some new hampers.

"You seem to be in a good modd", Sigrid said after a while when they were working on the hampers.

"Yeah, I am… But it was almost ruined by Ben."

"What did he do now?"

"Practicing archery with Albin, in the middle of the village", Eyla said. "He almost hit me by accident."

"That doesn`t sound like a good idea, he`s just starting to learn. I hope Albin doesn`t turn out like Ben."

"Me too. One Ben is enough."

"What put you in a good mood?" Sigrid asked. "It`s been a while since I saw you smile."

"I m…"

_I met a dragon, and then I met another dragon and his rider and now they are my friends, and they are going to teach me about riding dragons_. No, she couldn`t say that. A part of her wanted to tell her mother about the young man and the dragons, but she couldn`t. She would tell her father, and neither of them would understand.

"I`m just in a good mood for once", Eyla said, not able to think of a better answer.

But her mother seemed to settle with that. But she looked at Eyla for a few seconds to see if she would say more, and Eyla didn`t look at her. She didn`t like lying to her mother. She wasn`t really lying though, she just wasn`t telling the truth. Which was pretty much the same thing.

* * *

Eyla went to the woods later in the afternoon. When she came to the cliff, it didn`t take long before the blue dragon came and they spent some time together before Hiccup and Toothless came. She had thought about a name for the dragon. She couldn`t just call it "the dragon" or "the blue dragon". She looked at the dragon who was lying in front of her. She saw the shifting in the yellow eyes. Sometimes it was almost like a storm. Storm. Yeah, she could call it Storm.

"Storm, she said and stood up."

The dragon raised his head and let out a puff of smoke.

"You like that?" Eyla asked.

He nudged her on the cheek.

"Storm it is then", Eyla said and smiled.

A while after that, Hiccup and Toothless came. Hiccup said he had something for her and showed her the saddle. She was surprised, but thought it looked great. She wondered if he didn`t need the dragons measurements, and he said he`d taken them when she wasn`t looking. So that`s why her notebook was missing a page.

"I forgot to ask what you call your dragon", Hiccup said.

"I just named him Storm", Eyla said. "The shiftings in his eyes."

Hiccup smiled, thinking about Stormfly. But they were nothing alike, at least in appearance. He liked the name, it seemed to fit the dragon.

He put the saddle on the blue dragon and it fit perfectly. The dragon turned around a little at first, trying to look at it, but gave up. He didn`t seemed bothered by it though. When Eyla had tried the saddle, Hiccup jumped up on Toothless and both dragons took off. Hiccup showed her the basics. How she could tell the dragon where she wanted it to go, how to turn. Since her dragon wasn`t injured, like Toothless had been, it was a lot easier for them than it had been for Hiccup and Toothless the first times they were flying.

Eyla surprised herself a little, with not feeling afraid to be in the air on the dragon again. Maybe because Hiccup was there to help her and guide her through it. She enjoyed it, she really started to like riding the dragon, despite her fear of heights. When they landed, she couldn`t wait for the next time Hiccup would visit and show her more.

* * *

On their way home, Hiccup and Toothless spent a few hours on the beach on that island they had stayed at before, to get some sleep before they continued. When they arrived on Berk, still quite early in the morning, it felt like it only took two seconds before Astrid and Valka were standing in front of them.

"Where have you been?" Valka asked, both demanding and worried. "You never tell anyone where you`re going, and you`ve barely been here in the last couple of days. As the chief, you can`t just leave."

"I uh… There`s this girl…" Hiccup began.

"What girl?" Astrid asked.

"Something happened?" Valka asked. "Someone`s hurt? Or you just met someone?" Valka was getting curious.

"Uh..." Hiccup said.

The lack of jealousy in Astrid`s voice and Valka looking at him interested, somehow made him nervous. Astrid crossed her arms and looked at him with amusement, and Valka had a little smile on her lips.

"I uh… I uh… "Hiccup scratched the back of his head. "I… uh… I met… I met this girl. I think…" He threw a glance at Astrid and then looked at Valka. "I think she`s like us."

What he didn`t say was, "I think she`s like me".

Astrid knew that by "I think she`s like us" Hiccup didn`t mean like them, like the dragon riders on Berk. He meant "like us" as in "you and me", him and Valka, Astrid loved her dragon Stormfly. She loved riding the dragon and all the possibilities riding dragons gave them. But Valka and Hiccup were in a league of their own. And she was okay with that.

"Tell me more", Valka said. "I want to know everything."

Hiccup started walking and Toothless followed him.

"Just give me three hours", he said.

"But we have things to talk about", Valka said.

"Hiccup?" Astrid said.

Hiccup held up his hand, but didn`t look at them.

"Three hours. Please."

As soon as he lay down in the bed, he fell asleep. After only a few hours of sleep, he was really tired. He needed some sleep before he did anything else.

When he woke up, both Valka and Astrid were standing next to the bed looking at him.

"Now talk", Astrid said.

"Can you at least let me get out of bed first?"

"Come Astrid", Valka said. "We`ll wait downstairs."

When Hiccup and Toothless came downstairs, Astrid and Valka sat there waiting. When they saw him, they both looked up impatiently, but didn`t say anything. Hiccup sat down on a bench.

"So, a couple of days ago, I met this girl", Hiccup said. "I was flying with Toothless, just having fun."

"When you were gone all day", Astrid said.

"We saw a girl on a cliff pillar, so we landed, and scared her half to death, and asked her how she got up there."

"How did she get up there?" Astrid asked.

"She climbed." Hiccup smiled. "But she didn`t think about how to get down."

"Then why did she climb up there in the first place?"

"Something about getting over her fear of heights. Anyway, she`s been told dragons are dangerous, so I´m guessing they have been attacked. She believed dragons are dangerous until she met this blue dragon and us. I´ve never seen that dragon before, but it`s beautiful."

"What kind of dragon is it?"

"Didn`t I just say I´ve never seen one before?"

"What does the girl call it?" Astrid asked.

"A blue dragon."

"Go on", Valka said.

"She was afraid of dragons, but at the same time she has this way… The first time we met, when she was leaving, she reached out to touch Toothless and then it was like she realized what she was doing. And sometimes when we`ve met, it`s like she forgot Toothless was a dangerous dragon, before she realized she was patting a dragon. And when she met this blue dragon she felt something. She said that when they first touched it was like the time stood still. She felt a connection. It comes so natural for her, and she doesn`t even know."

"Then she also has the soul of a dragon", Valka said.

Okay. Astrid did feel a sting of jealousy. But a new dragon, and a new rider. That was interesting.

* * *

A/N: I have quite many views on this story and I appreciate that. I hope everyone likes it. I would appreciate if everyone who likes my story could favorite, follow or review, so I know that you like it.


	8. Chapter 8

Valka wanted to know more about the girl and asked about her name and how old she was. Hiccup said her name was Eyla and that she was about the same age as him and Astrid. They talked about her and her blue dragon a little more, and then Astrid had to go. Hiccup kissed her before she left and then just stood there.

"There`s more, isn`t it?" Valka asked after a little while.

"How did you know?" Hiccup asked and looked at her.

"I`m a mother, and a mother knows. And I know you quite well now. I know you´re thinking about something."

Hiccup looked at the front door that Astrid walked through a couple of minutes ago. He turned around and looked at his mother again.

"That girl, Eyla", he said after a few seconds and looked down at the floor before he looked up at Valka again. "I think… she`s like me. It`s not just the dragons… They make fun of her. They are mean to her. Like me when I was younger. She`s like me. If we would have met when I was a child, I would have had a friend… someone like me. I wouldn`t have been alone."

Valka saw the hurt in his eyes and wished she had been there for him growing up. Show him what he could do, who he really was.

Hiccup looked away so she wouldn`t see the tear in his eye. He didn`t mean to cry. It was a long time ago, he was different from when he was twelve, he was different from when he was sixteen. He had Toothless now, he had Astrid. And he had the respect from most of the villagers. But a part of him was still that dorky, clumsy little boy. He just didn`t come out as much. With Toothless he had gained more confidence, and a best friend, and since Astrid became his friend, and later girlfriend, she had always been by his side believing in him.

Valka put her hands on his shoulders and squeezed them.

"You`re not alone now", Valka said softly. "You haven`t been alone since you found Toothless. As long as you have someone, even if only one, you are never alone. And you have Astrid. And you have me now."

Hiccup put his right hand over her left hand on his shoulder, but didn`t say anything. He didn`t have to.

* * *

The following two weeks, Eyla spent as much time with her dragon as she could. Every spare moment she went to the woods. She brought the hampers to the docks in the morning, walked home, and if her mother didn`t want her to do something, she ran into the woods to be with her dragon. She flew with him as much as she could, and she loved it. It gave her a freedom she needed and had never felt before. It gave her confidence and all she felt when she was with Storm was happiness.

During those two weeks she met Hiccup and Toothless a couple of times and they taught her more about flying. The only thing better than being with Storm, was when Hiccup and Toothless came to see them.

"What`s been going on with you lately?" Sigrid asked one afternoon when Eyla came home after meeting Hiccup, Toothless and Storm. "You seem happier, your posture is better, straighter."

_And it`s all because of Hiccup, Toothless and Storm_, Eyla thought.

"I made some friends", she said, a bit evasive.

Her mother wanted to know more, but didn`t ask. She was just glad to see her daughter so happy.

* * *

Hiccup and Toothless were going to see Eyla and Storm again. It had been a couple of days and Hiccup thought it was time to go back. They left early in the morning so they would arrive at the island sometime in the afternoon.

Valka and Astrid watched them as they rose in the air.

"There they go again", Astrid said. "Do you think… That he… Do you think we…"

"No Astrid", Valka said. "He loves you. He`s just excited about a new friend, and teaching her more about dragons. And I think it keeps him from thinking about Stoick."

"I can`t believe it`s been almost a year."

"I never thought I would get him back just to lose him again", Valka said sadly.

"At least you got your son back", Astrid said compassionately.

* * *

Eyla had been home all day helping her mother with some hampers and cooking. Now she was cleaning the house while her mother was out helping some other women decorate the Great Hall for an upcoming birthday. She was sweeping the floor when she suddenly heard yelling outside.

"Dragon! Single dragon attack!"

It was in the afternoon, it was still daylight. Dragons never attacked during the day._ Wait_, single _dragon attack. Storm_. She dropped the broom, ran towards the front door, pulled it open and ran through the village.

Gunnar, a big man the same age as her father, was holding a big crossbow pointing at the sky. At Storm. Storm who was looking for her.

Gunnar was ready to shoot and Eyla threw herself at his arms trying to stop him.

"No!" she screamed.

The big arrow shot through the air, but missed the dragon. Suddenly Hiccup and Toothless were there, trying to stop the blue dragon from going lower. A net with stones at the ends was shot towards the black dragon. Toothless dodged it. Another arrow was shot from the crossbow and almost hit them. Eyla was just standing there, hoping they would be okay. Another net was shot up in the air and hit the blue dragon.

"No!" Eyla said as the blue dragon went down.

Hiccup and Toothless dived after it.

"Eyla! What in the name of Thor do you think you are doing?!" Her father was very angry.

"I… They…"

"Dragons, Eyla. Dragons! Go home and stay there."

"But dad…"

"No buts. Ben, Tork, go with her and make sure she stays there."

"But dad!"

"Brand", Sigrid said.

"No! I`m in charge here. And she has to do what I say."

Ben and Tork looked at her, gloating. She was upset with her father, not just for sending her home, but for telling Ben and Tork to go with her. Anyone, but them.

Inside the house, she walked around in circles, worried about Storm. From what she saw, Hiccup and Toothless didn`t get hurt, but she wasn`t completely sure. She opened the front door, but Ben and Tork were standing right outside. They both sneered.

"He did tell us to stay", Ben said.

Eyla slammed the door. She had to get to the woods. She couldn`t stay there. She had to make sure Storm was alright.

She went in the back of the house and opened the shutters. She was half way through when someone grabbed the back of the neckline of her tunic and held her back.

"And where do you think you`re going?" her mother asked.

Eyla turned around to look at her.

"You have to let me go. Please. I will explain later. Just let me go. _Please_."

Sigrid looked at her. Eyla couldn`t tell what she was thinking, but she let go and stepped back. Eyla jumped down from the window and ran.

When she finally found Storm, Hiccup and Toothless she relaxed just a little bit. Hiccup was releasing Storm from the net.

"I´m glad you came when you did. But they tried to shoot you down."

"It`s not the first time", Hiccup said,

"He was looking for me. I`ve seen him everyday, but today I haven`t had the time yet, so I guess he was looking for me. And it could have gotten him killed."

"You can`t blame yourself." Hiccup cut the last rope. "It`s not your fault."

Storm got up, walked around and flapped his wings. He seemed okay, nothing broken, and Eyla was relieved. She put her arms around his neck and sighed.

Hiccup didn`t stay long this time, because of what happened, so they didn't practice any flying. He would come back in a few days. But they had to be more careful.

* * *

When Eyla came back to the house, she got in the same way as she got out, through the window. Her mother was sitting in the big room waiting for her.

"Where`s dad?" Eyla asked.

"Out." She crossed her arms. "Meeting about the dragons."

"What were they gonna do with the dragon?"

"Just leave it there to die."

That was cruel. Eyla took a deep breath and wiped the corner of her eye.

"Now talk", Sigrid said.

"You can`t tell dad. Please."

Sigrid looked at her for a few moments, then slowly nodded.

"A while ago I climbed up a cliff."

"Why?"

"Just to prove that I could. I met a dragon. And I met another dragon and his rider. A guy my age."

She looked at her mother. Her expression didn`t tell her what was going through her head.

"I`ve met them several times after that", she continued. "They are my friends."

"That`s why you`ve been so happy."

Eyla nodded.

"I got to know this dragon and I´ve learned to ride a dragon. He`s my friend. They are my _friends_."

Her mother didn`t say anything, just looked at her. Eyla still didn`t know what her mothers reaction would be.

"Please", Eyla said. "Don`t tell dad. Please. You can`t tell him. _Please"_, she begged like a little child.

Sigrid didn`t say anything for a few seconds.

"Okay", was all she said. She rose from the table and walked out.

Eyla watched her as she left. Hoping she would keep her promise. She had to.

* * *

**I hope you like this chapter. I will try to update by the end of the week. You won`t have to wait this long for the next chapter anyway.**

**Now I have had been asked if there will be a sequel twice. I guess that means you really like the story, and that makes me happy. But, like I said before, I don`t know yet. I haven`t really thought about it. I did get a few ideas that could work for a sequel. But it depends on how long this story will be. **


	9. Chapter 9

The following days Eyla was anxious, always worried that her mother would tell her father. Everytime she got home and her parents were there, or if she met her father in the village, she was always afraid that he would say something. But nothing happened. Yet.

Eyla continued to see Storm everyday, but fly they mostly did when it was getting dark, all so that it would be as little risk as possible that someone would see them. The men shooting at the dragon, and him going down, had really scared her. She didn`t know what she would do if she lost him. In this short time, he had given her so much. She didn`t know what she would do without him and she hoped she would never have to find out.

Eyla came home after being in the woods for a few hours. It was still daylight and a few hours befor it would start getting dark, but she had been flying with Storm anyway. When Eyla got inside she stopped when she saw her mother in the big room, preparing dinner. She looked at her, waiting for her to tell her she told her fathr about the dragon.

Sigrid walked towards her.

"I saw you", she said.

Eyla froze and just looked at her.

"I saw you up there in the air", she continued.

"What do you mean?" Brand asked. "Up where? What was she doing?"

Eyla froze again. She hadn`t heard him walk in. She didn`t look at him so he wouldn`t see how scared she was. She wouldn`t be able to explain. She looked at her mother, silently begging her not to say anything.

Sigrid looked at her for a few seconds. To Eyla it felt a lot longer than it actually was.

"I saw her climbing a cliff. I just want her to be careful", Sigrid said, not taking her eyes off her daughter.

"And why is she climbing a cliff?" Brand asked.

"Getting over my fear of heights", Eyla said, hoping he didn`t hear how unsteady her voice was.

"I was just getting my axe", Brand said. "Gunnar and Longlegs saw a ship. We´re going out to see what they want."

Eyla and Sigrid watched him as he took his axe and left the house again. Sigrid turned to Eyla again.

"I haven`t said anything, I won`t say anything. Only because I see how happy that dragon makes you." Her gaze hardened. "But don`t for a_ second_ think that I won`t have it killed if you get hurt."

Eyla`s heart dropped and she just looked at her, hit by her last words. She could only hope it would never come to that. But if her mother had seen her on the dragon, did that mean someone else might have done the same?

Eyla had trouble sleeping that night. She never heard her father walk in when her mother had told her she saw her, maybe she hadn`t either. He had believed them when they said she was climbing a cliff. But that wasn`t what scared her. What scared her was if someone else had seen her and Storm. Someone who wouldn`t keep quiet. She hoped that her mother had been the only one.

* * *

Valka had been watching Hiccup the last couple of days. Not every second, she wasn`t stalking him. But she kept an eye on him to see if he would leave the island. But the only flying he and Toothless had done was with Astrid and Stormfly. Sometimes Snortlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut had also been with them. Valka had been on Berk for almost a year now, but she didn`t always understand the twins. But they did give you something to laugh at from time to time, but sometimes you just wanted to shake your head.

Hiccup had been doing things he had to do as chief, mediate in arguments, calm people down when a dragon burned down something. The water system was a great idea, but it didn`t put out all fires. He helped Gobber, and also helped with the Dragon Academy. Valka was proud of him.  
Now she saw Hiccup and Toothless walk out of the village, not really sneaking, but she had a feeling they were leaving. She went to get Cloudjumper so she could follow them. When she saw Hiccup and Toothless rise in the air and fly away from Berk, she smiled. She was right.

* * *

Eyla was happy to see Hiccup again in the afternoon and some of her worries faded. Seeing them always got her in a good mood. All her worries always disappeared. They didn`t mean anything when she was with Storm, Hiccup and Toothless.

Hiccup had only been there for a couple of minutes when suddenly something big flew up from below. It was the biggest dragon Eyla had ever seen so close. Eyla moved her head, following the dragon as it flew up and over them. When they had passed them Eyla lost balance and sat down, like something had pulled her up and then dropped her.

"Hi, mom", she heard Hiccup say.

Eyla got up on her feet again and turned around. Now that the dragon had folded it wings, it looked at bit smaller, but was still the biggest dragon she had seen so close. Next to it stood a woman. She looked like she should be about the same age as Eyla`s parents. There was something about her. Hiccup never told her about his mother. The woman stood tall and proud and somehow it made Eyla feel… small… She didn`t know how to explain it.

"How did you get here?" Hiccup asked.

"I followed you", the woman said and smiled. "I was curious about this girl."

Eyla looked from the woman to Hiccup. So he had been talking about her… She wondered what he had said about her. The woman looked at her.

"I`m Valka", the woman said with a smile and held out her hand.

Eyla walked up to her. The big dragon next to Valka lowered its head towards Eyla. Eyla looked at it, then slowly raised her hand, and then stopped. She let it fall. The dragon tilted its head down to the left and then to the right, not taking its eyes off her. Eyla got the feeling that this was a very intelligent creature. Valka saw a quick smile on the girl. When Eyla turned to her, she put her hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes.

"My son told me that you are special, and I can see that you are."

"I am? I mean, he did?"

Valka smiled and let go of her.

"You are not afraid of dragons. You understand them."

"That is kind of thanks to Storm", she said slowly, feeling a bit unsure.

"Where is your dragon?"

Eyla looked to the left and then to the right, and saw Storm come out from the trees.

"Tbere", she said and pointed.

Eyla saw how Valka kind of lit up when she saw the blue dragon.

"He is beautiful." She walked towards him.

Storm looked at her with interest. He lowered his head and she reached out her hand and touched him.

"I don`t think I`ve ever seen a dragon like this", Valka said. "And I have seen many. He is really beautiful. That color. And he`s young. He`s only seven."

"How do you know that?" Eyla asked.

Valka pressed lightly on the dragon`s chin and he raised his head. Valka pointed at some small tines, silently counting them. Storm nudged her, wanting her to pet him. Valka laughed and pet him. Eyla smiled. If Storm would have been a lot smaller, he would have crawled up in her arms. But Eyla wasn`t jealous. It was just fun to watch.

"Now I want to fly, I want to see him in the air", Valka said.

"Sure, but we have to stay on this part of the Island", Eyla said.

Valka nodded and then walked to her dragon. Eyla and Hiccup got on her their dragons and they took off. Eyla was a bit surprised to see that Valka`s dragon had four wings, she hadn`t noticed that when they came. Her dragon was a lot bigger than both Toothless and Storm.

Like always, Eyla enoyed being in the air on Storm. It was fun to watch Valka on her dragon. It was like she was one with the dragon, and she was so… free. Like nothing else mattered. She could see some of it in Hiccup too, they were both special.

Eyla sighed and closed her eyes. She held out her arms and just enjoyed being on Storm. This was life. Nothing could compare to this. She opened her eyes and put her hands on the saddle again when she felt the dragon turn. He turned upside down, but Eyla wasn`t afraid to fall now. She had somethig to hold on too, even if she had to hold on tight. But they had done this a couple of times now and she started to enjoy it.

Eyla watched HIccup and Valka on their dragons. The bond they shared with their dragons and the bond between the two humans. Eyla suddenly felt sad and made her dragon fly towards the cliffs again. The others followed. When Storm landed, Eyla got off and stood next to him and stroked his neck.

"Is something wrong?" Hiccup asked.

"I… I just wish…. That this would have happened earlier", Eyla said. "Getting to know Storm." She turned to look at Hiccup with a tear in her eye. "And you. I wish I would have met you when I was a child. Then I wouldn`t have been alone."

Hiccup and Valka looked at each other. It was almost the same words Hiccup had used. He looked at Eyla and smiled.

"I wish that too." He was silent for a few seconds. "I wish I could take you with me to Berk. Meet my firends and see all the dragons."

"I would like to, but I don`t know how that would happen", Eyla said. "I can`t just leave. I can`t go alone in a boat or leave on Storm."

"We`ll figure something out."

Eyla looked at them and smiled. She would love to go to Berk and see where Hiccup lived, but it felt impossible. See how they shared their lives with dragons. But as long a he came here she could still see him.

"I better get going now", Eyla said after a little while. "I´ve been gone for a couple of hours, I should get home."

They said goodbye and Eyla started walking towards the trees.

"She does have the soul of a dragon", Valka said as they watched her leave. "You just have too look at her, how she interacts with the dragons, and you know."

* * *

.After walking in the woods for a little while Eyla started running. But suddenly something struck the legs out from her and she fell on her back. The tip of a sword was pointing at her. She looked up and saw Ben. Of course.

"Now you tell me what you are doing in the woods every day. Why you sneak away and are gone for hours."

He had seen her go, like many others probably, but he didn`t know why. That was good. But he had a sword in his hands and she had nothing.

"I wouldn`t do that if I were you."

_Hiccup. What`s he doing here?_

Ben looked at the young man standing in front of him. He was quite short, very thin, and had a prosthesis. What was he gonna do?

"How did you get here?"

"Oh, from the sky", Hiccup said. "Well, from another island, but from the sky."

Ben frowned. He didn`t like this man.

"And what are you going to do? You don`t even have a weapon."

Ben saw him take something from his right leg. He didn`t know what it was, but it was quite big and elongated and seemed to be made out of metal.

"Don`t be so sure", Hiccup said. "Now I tell you again. Let her go."

Eyla thought it was quite fascinating how calm, but still confident, Hiccup sounded. Ben was bigger, taller and had more muscles, but Hiccup didn`t seem to care.

"Or do you wanna find out what`s really inside of this?" Hiccup continued.

Ben looked at him, very irritated. It could be just a trick, but the wasn`t sure he wanted to find out. He took a few steps back and lowered the sword.

"You`re lucky this time. But I will find out", he said and looked at Eyla.

Eyla got up on her feet and watched Ben run towards the village. She turned to Hiccup.

"I thought you left?"

"We were going to, but I saw him and thought maybe you needed some help."

"I`m glad you came. But you have to go now. If he finds out what you meant by coming from the sky…."

"We`ll go. I`ll be back soon."

They said goodbye again and walked in seperste directions. Eyla was glad that Hiccup came, she didn´t know what Ben would do, and she wasn`t sure she could comvince him. But part of her wished that Hiccup hadn`t come. What if Ben would have seen Toothless or the other dragon?

* * *

**A/N. Like always every view, favorite, follow and review is very much appreciated, and I hope everyone who reads the story likes it.**  
**I have posted 2 oneshots under the title Free and if you read them I hope you like them. I could have written them in the story, but especially the one with Hiccup and Toothless I wanted on its own.**  
**I will try to update as soon as possible, but I have some things to figure out for the upcoming chapters. I have also started writing a new fanfic that I hope to post in a couple of weeks.**


	10. Chapter 10

Hiccup, Valka and their dragons spent the night at the island where Hiccup used to stay when he went back to Berk. None of them wanted to get back in the middle of the night, and thought it was best to get at least a few hours of sleep. But before they went to sleep they talked about Eyla and Storm. Valka liked Eyla and could easily see why Hiccup wanted to see her and her dragon. And even if she didn`t know the girl, she could see some similarities between the two from what Hiccup had told her and what she had seen herself.

* * *

When Hiccup and Valka arrived at Berk in the morning Astrid was waiting for them. She stood there with her hands on the hips and when they landed she crossed her arms and looked at them. She was not happy. At all.

"You left, without me", she said. "How could you leave without me?!"

"You were busy and…" Hiccup began.

"So you wanted me to help with the Dragon Academy so you two could go see that girl? And not even tell me you were going?!"

"I followed him", Valka said, "I didn`t really go with him, I followed him."

Astrid looked at them, still angry.

"Next time you tell me, okay? I want to meet that girl too."

She looked at Hiccup and hit him on the shoulder before she left.

"Ow!" Hiccup said and put his hand on the shoulder. "I wish she could stop doing that."

"I don`t think she ever will", Valka said with a smile. "It`s kind of her thing."

In the evening when things started to settle down, Hiccup made sure to spend a couple of hours with Astrid. It didn`t really make up for leaving without even telling her, but they hadn`t spent as much time with each other like they used to, since Hiccup met Eyla.

* * *

Eyla was worried. She wasn`t just worried that her mother would say something about the dragon, she had Ben`s eyes on her. She knew he was watching her. He was suspicious and she had to be careful when she left the village to go see Storm. Fortunately Ben hadn`t done anything since he threatened her in the woods, but she knew he was watching her. She tried to make it difficult for him. Not going to the woods at the same time every day. It had only been a couple of days, but it was just a matter of time before he revealed her. And Ben would have Storm killed in a heartbeat.

Eyla and Storm stayed on the ground. She was too afraid that Ben or anyone else would see them if they went flying. She could tell that Storm wanted to fly, but seemed to accept that they were staying on the ground. But Eyla felt sorry for him. She was human, she wasn`t supposed to fly, but a dragon was, and he loved to fly with her.

* * *

The next time Hiccup went to see Eyla he asked Astrid to come with him. One of the reasons was he didn`t like it when she was angry at him and he didn`t want her to punch him again when he came back. Hiccup could tell that she was happy he asked this time and she seemed to be excited to meet the new dragon rider. And he was quite sure Eyla would like Astrid too.

When Hiccuo and Astrid got closer to the island they saw Eyla and Storm on the rock pillar. Toothless and Stormfly landed on the rock pillar and Hiccup and Astrid got off.

"I guess you didn´t climb this time?" Hiccup asked with a smile.

"No", Eyla said. "But if I did and if I would fall down, at least I would have someone to catch me this time."

"This is Astrid", Hiccup said. "I told her about you and she also wanted to meet you. But she couldn`t come last time."

"Couldn`t?" Astrid said with an annoyed tone in her voice. "More like you didn`t tell me you were going!"

"Anyway", Hiccup said feeling a tiny bit uncomfortable. "Astrid, this is Eyla. And that is Storm."

"Storm huh?" Astrid smiled. "This is Stormfly."

Eyla smiled. Two very different dragons but almost the same name. But Stormfly seemed to be a she.

"What are you doing up here?" Hiccup asked. "Enjoyig the view?"

"Yeah, and hiding from Ben. That guy you saved me from. He has his eyes on me. Hoping to figure out what I`m doing."

"Wait, You never said anything about saving someone." Astrid looked at Hiccup.

"It was nothing, really. I wasn`t in any real danger", Eyla said. "Ben was just threatening me to find out why I spend so much time in the woods. But if he finds out about Storm." She shook her head.

"You fight dragons", Astrid said.

"They attack us", Eyla said. "We haven`t had a choice. But I wish it was different." She put her hand on Storms shoulder blade.

"Maybe if you talk to them", Astrid suggested. "Maybe you can…."

Eyla smiled, but it didn`t reach her eyes.

"No. They won`t listen. They don`t want to listen. And people don`t really listen to me."

"Sounds like you", Astrid said looking at Hiccup. "It wasn´t easy to get people to understand."

"It will take a miracle for them to change", Eyla said. "In the meantime I will do everything I can so they don`t find out about him."

Hiccup and Astrid stayed for a while. Storm and Stormfly seemed to get along well, and Eyla thought that Astrid seemed very nice, tough, but nice. She liked her.

"I can see why you like her", Astrid said when they were on their way home. "She`s a lot like you. And very nice, I like her."

"I´m glad", Hiccup said. "And Stormfly and Storm seemed to like each other as well. I wish she could come to Berk so she could see how we live with the dragons."

"Maybe someday. I think she would like it. But I understand that she can`t just go. Not when they see dragons as the enemy. And she can`t just go alone on a boat."

"Yeah…"

* * *

Eyla got the hampers and left the house to walk down to the docks. The sky was light grey, but she could see blue sky in the distance. She hoped it wouldn`t rain, even though they could need some rain. She just didn´t like it when it was pouring down.

It had been a while since someone did anything to her, so when she was pushed, tripped over some ropes and landed in the water, it caught her off guard. She wasn`t at all prepared. When she turned around to stand up, Ben held her down, forcing her to sit. Tork was standing next to him. Ben came closer.

"Now you tell me what`s going on", he said with a low, angry voice.

A couple of months ago, he would have scared her and she would have been afraid of what he would do. Now, somehow she felt confident, determined never to tell him about the dragons.

"Never", she said calmly, emphasizing the word.

Ben narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaws.

"I`m not going to ask you again. Tell me what you are doing in the woods. And why you tried to stop Gunnar from shooting that damn dragon."

Eyla just looked at him, narrowing her own eyes.

"Never!"

"Either you leave her in the water, or you get her out of there", one of the fishermen said.

Ben gave her one last angry look before he turned around. Tork looked almost as angry as Ben did, but followed him without saying anything.  
Eyla got out of the water and walked up on the pier and took the two hampers that needed to be repaired and walked towards the house. She tried to walk like it didn`t bother her, but it did. She was pissed. She was angry that they didn`t leave her alone, she was angry that Ben threatened her again. Angry that the best thing that ever happened to her, could be lost in a heartbeat.


	11. Chapter 11

What Eyla really needed right now, was to go and see Storm. But she couldn`t. Ben and Tork would be watching her and she did _not _want to lead them anywhere near the dragon. Cause they woudn`t even hesitate. They would try to kill him as soon as they laid eyes on him.

It was funny how just a couple of months ago, she had been terrified of dragons. Now everything had changed. Her best friend was a dragon. She had a special bond with the dragon, a bond that she would never have with someone else.

She waited until it was starting to get dark before she snuck out of the house, through the window in the back of the house. She didn`t take a torch with her, afraid that Ben or Tork would spot her if they were out. It was bright enough for her to see where she was going, but it would be dark when she got home. But then it would be so dark that she could let Storm take her close to the village, and then the fires would give her some light.

Just spending time with Storm made her feel better. But she got more and more scared that she would lose him. Ben and Tork would not stop until they figured out what she was doing in the woods and with what. She had not felt this helpless in a long time.

Eyla was on her way home. It was pitch black. She never liked the dark, being outside alone in the dark anyway, but she had Storm with her and it made it feel a lot better. She didn`t take him too close to the village, in case someone would be out. She didn`t want anyone to see the dragon. If someone saw her, she could come of with a reasonable explanation, but not if they saw the dragon.

Eyla took the same way to get in to the house as when she left; through the window. The house was dark and she hit her toe against a chair when she went through the big room. The noise was loud in the silent house, but she didn`t wake anyone. Neither of her parents came to check it out. She went to bed, hoping that her blue dragon would continue to be safe.

* * *

The next day, Sigrid wanted Eyla to go to the woods and pick berries. She gave Eyla two of the smaller hampers and she walked towards the woods. She liked picking berries, even thought she sometimes thought it was very boring. She liked being in the woods, and picking berries was a quiet chore. No rush, she could just take her time and pick as much berries as her mother wanted.

There were still at lot of berries in the woods and it didn`t take her too long to fill the hampers. She was on her way home when she heard a familiar voice from above.

"Eyla!"

She looked up and saw he looked worried and her smile died.

"They have Storm!" he called.

Eyla stopped abrubtly and just looked at him for a few seconds, letting his words sink in and realizing what he was saying. _They have Storm. _Hiccup and Toothless must have flown over the island before he saw her among the trees, and saw the men with Storm. They had Storm. She dropped the hampers and some of the berries fell out. She ran towards the village as fast as her legs could move.

She saw Storm and the men just outside the woods. Storm was caught in bolas and couldn`t move, ropes around his nose, so he couldn`t open his mouth, and a rope around his neck, held by Gunnar. Her father was of course there, Ben, Tork, Longlegs. She saw her mother and a few of the other women.

"No, no, no!" Eyla called as she ran to Storm.

Eyla stopped by the dragon`s head, looking straight at her people with clenched fists. She couldn`t let them do this. It didn`t matter if she had to stand alone against the whole village, she could not let them do this.

"Eyla! Step back and let us take care of this monster", Brand said.

"No! He`s not a monster!"

"It`s a dragon, and a monster and we have to kill it."

Eyla could see in her father`s posture and hear in his voice that he didn`t like that she didn`t obey, but she didn`t move. She looked at Storm and saw the fear in his eyes.

"Can`t you see that he`s scared?" Eyla asked, desperate to make them change their minds.

"He is dangerous! Eyla. For the gods sakes, it`s a dragon! A monster!" Brand was losing patience.

"But he isn`t! Can you just look at him?! He is scared! He`s not dangerous! He`s… He`s my best friend."

Everyone gasped and started talking to each other.

"He is my best friend" Eyla said again. "He accepted me without any questions, which is more than I can say about many of you."

Some of the people looked a bit uncomfortable, they knew she was right, cause they were the ones making it hard for her. But Ben and Tork just glared at her.

"There`s a whole other world up there" she continued. "Just let me…" She heard footsteps and saw Hiccup and Toothless come walking behind her. "Let us, show you."

"No one is showing us anything" Brand said. "We are humans, we belong on the ground. Not in the air on the back of monsters!" Brand said, with his voice filled with anger. "Get that dragon." Brand pointed at Toothless.

The men raised their weapons.

"I wouldn`t do that if I were you" Hiccup said.

Eyla didn`t understand how Hiccup could be so calm

"This is a Night Fury, I`m sure you`ve heard of them, so you know how dangerous they are."

Toothless opened his mouth and they saw a blue light as he prepared for a plasma blast.

"He will hurt you before you hurt us" Hiccup continued and then threw a knife towards Eyla.

Eyla picked up the knife that landed at her feet and started cutting the ropes to free Storm.

"Eyla, what are you doing?!" Brand took a few steps towards her, but stopped.

Eyla cut the last rope and got up on Storm. Hiccup was already on Toothless.

"Eyla" Sigrid said.

"I finally found something I believe in" she said.

The dragons launched in the air. They flew over the island and landed by the cliffs where they usually met. When Eyla got off Storm, she walked around back and forth. She didn`t know what to do.

She stopped and looked at Storm, who was standing closer to the trees with Toothless.

"I don`t know what I`m gonna do." Eyla said with tears in her eyes. "I don`t know what to do." She ran her hands over her face and then through her hair. "If I lose him…"

Hiccup didn`t say anything. But he knew exactly how she felt, he had felt the same way six years ago and once again when Drago tried to turn Toothless against him.

"I will lose him. I can`t lose him. He`s given me so much. When I`m up in the air with him, nothing can compare to that. It`s like… You and Toothless have this great special bond. He`s your other half. Storm is my other half. I just can`t lose him."

No one had said to Hiccup that Toothless was his other half before, but that`s the way it was. Tootless was his other half, his soulmate, even if he was a dragon. He almost lost him twice, and if he lost him now… It would destroy him. He knew exactly how Eyla felt about Storm.

Hiccup looked at Eyla with different emotions, how much like him she was, feeling sorry for her, knowing how special the dragon was for her, and before he really realized what he was doing, he kissed her. The kiss surprised them both and they both pulled back.

"I eh… I … I eh… I didn…" Hiccup said and put his hand on the back of his head. He didn`t know what to say.

Eyla couldn`t help but give a quick smile.

"It`s okay… I didn`t.. I mean… I…" Eyla stopped and took a breath. "You have a girlfriend, right? Astrid?"

Hiccup looked at her, frowning with raised eyebrows and an apologetic look and nodded. Eyla looked at him with tilted head.

"As long as you`ll still be my friend" she said after a few moments.

"Always."

Eyla looked at him for a few seconds and sighed.

"What am I gonna do?

"We`ll think of something. But for now, maybe it`s for the better if you stay away from the village."

"You`ll probably right. I can`t go back right now."

"I`ll think of something. I`ll be back soon."

Before he walked over to Toothless, he gave Eyla a hug and told her it would be okay.

Eyla watched them leave, then she walked over to Storm, who put his head against her torso. She put her arms around his head and leaned her forhead against his nasal brigde. She didn`t allow herself to think about the kiss, then it would mean more than it actually did. Which was just something that happened in the moment. She had always thought about Hiccup as a friend. He was good looking, charming, and funny, but she needed a friend and he had become a close friend. She needed someone on her side and he understood her, he encouraged her. And he was like her. As long as he was her friend, she wouldn`t be alone.

* * *

What occupied Hiccup`s thoughts on their way back to Berk was not the kiss, but what they should do about Storm and the village that wanted to kill him. Somehow they had to come up with something to make them change their minds. But just like his people, they were not intrested, they didn`t want to see that maybe there was another way. Even after he fought the Red Death and killed the enormous dragon, not everyone was pleased to have dragons in the village as their pets.

In the evening, when he had time for himself after helping some of the villagers, he sat at the table in the big room in the Haddock House and thought about the kiss. He liked Eyla from the moment he met her, but he always thought about her as a friend. Someone that understood him in a way no one else ever had. Someone that was like him.

When they were on the cliffs after Eyla cut the ropes to free Storm, and she was afraid to lose him, he saw so much of himself in her. The fear he had felt, the sadness he had felt, and the love of a dragon that was so close to you, you almost shared the same heart. Maybe that was why he kissed her. Or maybe….

Valka walked down the stairs and saw her son leaned back in the chair with his arms on the table. He sighed and put his elbows on the table to rest his head in his hands.

"Is something wrong?" Valka asked and sat down next to him.

Hiccup didn`t say anything for several seconds.

"I kissed Eyla."

That was not what Valka expected to hear, but she didn`t say anything.

"You have a lot in common. Do you like her?"

"I don`t know" he said and leaned back again. "I mean, yes, I like her, I thought I liked her as a friend.

"So what happened?"

"They caught Storm" he said after a few seconds. He saw Valka`s worried look. "We saved him. They didn`t hurt him. She is so afraid she will lose him. Just like I was about losing Toothless. Storm has done so much for her, he changed her, like Toothless changed me. And when I saw just how much he means to her, he is her other half, like Toothless is mine. And I just felt this… I just kissed her."

Valka was quiet for a few moments. She loved Astrid. She was a great girl and she would become a great wife to Hiccup someday. But sometimes, some things change. It doesn`t have to be something in particular, sometimes things just change.

"You know…" Valka said slowly, "Sometimes things change, someties you don`t find the love of your life when you`re fifteen."

"But I love Astrid. I`ve always loved Astrid."

"Then you don`t have to worry about it." Valka put her hand on his shoulder before she left him.


	12. Chapter 12

Eyla and Storm stayed on the island, but far away from the village. Eyla didn`t know if she could go home, but she didn`t want to risk it. She didn`t know what they would do to her, if they would do anything at all. Maybe her parents would only ground her, so she couldn`t leave the house. But she was afraid of what would happen to Storm. So she stayed with him. They spent most of the days near the cliffs where they used to meet Hiccup and Toothless. The nights they spent up on the cliff pillar where she first met her dragon, Hiccup and Toothless. It was the only place she knew for sure they would be safe. If the villagers would find the dragon again, they wouldn`t let him go this time. This time they would kill him.

Eyla thought about all the things that had happened, if she could have done something differently. Maybe she shouldn`t have befriended the dragon. Maybe she shouldn`t have stopped Gunnar from shooting him down. But that would mean she would have lost him. Maybe she should have just followed Hiccup to Berk and stay there and go back when some time had passed. Maybe she should have told her parents about the dragon sooner, but she dismissed the thought rather quickly. Maybe her mother would have acted somewhat calm, or something like that, since she agreed to not tell Eyla`s father about the dragon when she found out, but her father was a completely dfferent story. He would have called for a hunt and wouldn`t stop until the dragon was dead.

She didn`t want to lose her family, but she just couldn`t lose Storm. It would destroy her.

* * *

Hiccup had had two busy days and hadn`t been able to go back to Eyla and Storm. He didn`t like it. He promised to be back soon, and he worried about them. What if the villagers decided to hunt down the dragon? Would they care about Eyla, or would they hurt her in the process?

Astrid knew Hiccup was worried, and she understood, she would have been just as worried if it was her dragon that was in danger. She did her best to make Hiccup think about something else whenever he had a few moments over.

When Hiccup went to bed on the second day, he decided that he and Toothless would go to Eyla the next day, no matter if he had the time or not. He promised to come back and help her, he had to keep that promise.

So when the sun was still low in the sky the next morning, he and Toothless left the Haddock house to fly to Eyla and Storm. Since they left so early they would arrive at the island around noon.

He enjoyed the flight. Both him and Toothless needed a fun flight. It was not until several hours later that they both got more serious and started to worry again. When they came to the island, they saw Storm and Eyla on the cliff pillar. They saw them coming and both Hiccup and Toothless were glad to see that they were alright.

"I`m sorry it took so long for me to come back", Hiccup said. "I`ve been really busy."

"It´s okay", Eyla said.

"That`s good. I´m glad you are both okay."

They got up on their dragons and flew to cliffs where Hiccup and Eyla sat down to talk. Hiccup asked how they had been and Eyla said that they had stayed away from the village and spent the nights up on that cliff pillar.

"It`s the only place I know for sure is safe", Eyla said.

They sat there talking about the dragons, when suddenly the earth was shaking and they heard a loud noise, like something hit the ground. Eyla and Hiccup looked at each other.

"What in the world was that?" Eyla asked.

Hiccup helped her up on her feet and they both walked over to the edge.

On the left, at some distance, was the biggest dragon Eyla had ever seen in her entire life. It was even taller than the cliffs. It was gigantic. Her heart was racing and she looked at Hiccup.

"What the hell is that thing?!"

The enormous dragon took another step on the small beach and opened its mouth and took some small animals. But that wasn`t enough by far. That was just a snack. Eyla gasped when it shot out its tongue to catch some rabbits.

"It kind of looks like a Red Death," Hiccup said. "But they don`t hunt their own food, they get fed", Hiccup said. "The queen of the nest. So I would say a, _very, _big seadragon."

"What does that mean?" Eyla asked with fear in her voice as they stepped away from the edge.

"That means that you are all in danger. And I mean everyone. We need other dragons to fight this thing."

They walked over to their dragons.

"How? I don`t know how to make them change their minds. They don`t listen to me. My father doesn`t even listen to me."

"Then I will talk to him", Hiccup said. "Chief to chief."

"You´re the chief?" Eyla stopped in surprise.

"What? I`m too skinny, too crippled, too young?"

"Too young? Eyla tried. She looked at him. Why didn`t you tell me you´re the chief?

"It just didn`t come up", Hiccup said and shrugged. "My father died about a year ago, and I became chief. Listen. You call to a meeting and try to talk to your people. And if they don`t listen to you, I will talk to them. And I will make them listen."

* * *

They left Toothless and Storm in the woods and walked to the village. Hiccup let Eyla go alone to call everyone to a meeting in the Great Hall, but he stayed close. She would need him sooner or later.

"So why are we here?" Longlegs asked.

"Where are the dragons?" someone asked.

"Where have you been?"Sigrid asked.

"Tell us why we are here", Brand demanded. "And where have you been?"

"I have been with my dragon", Eyla said. "And no, neither he or the other dragon will attack the village", she said to quiet the voices that started talking at the same time. "We have bigger problems than that."

"Can you just get to the point?" Ben asked.

"We need dragons to…", Eyla began.

But after that no one listened to her anymore. Everyone talked at the same time. Eyla didn`t know how to tell them about the dragon the size of a mountain. And now no one listened to her so she didn`t get a chance to explain. But then Hiccup came walking from the big doors.

"You should listen to her", Hiccup said. "There is a big threat to all of you, and I hate to break it to you, but you need dragons."

"And who do you think you are? Coming here and tell us what to do?" Brand was angry at the stranger.

"I am the chief of Berk", Hiccup said.

People started talking at the same time again. "You are the chief?", "The tiniest chief I`ve ever seen?" "Is this a joke?" People laughed.

"Let the boy speak" Sigrid said and stood up. "He deserves to be listened to."

"Thank you, Milady", Hiccup said and stopped at the table. "What she was going to say, and this is very important, so listen carefully, is that there is a big threat to you and you need dragons to fight it. "He held up his hand, demanding everyone to be quiet when they started to object."We saw a very big seadragon, the size of a mountain to be exact, at the north coast."

"I don`t remember hearing about a seadragon that size here", Brand said, narrowing his eyes.

"It`s probably been sleeping for hundreds of years", HIccup said. "And now it`s hungry."

"And what does that mean exactly?" Gunnar asked.

"That you and this whole island are in danger. The dragon is not a queen which means that the raids here will not increase, but, it does mean that everyone of you can, and will, be food to this dragon."

The seriousness of what he said started to sink in. The men looked at each other. Even Ben and Tork looked uncomfortable. People talked with a low voice until they went silent when Brand spoke.

"So what do you suggest we do?

"You need other dragons to fight this dragon. Like it or not, it`s your only chance. I want Eyla to come with me to Berk so she can learn more about training dragons. And then, in a couple of days, she will be back with me and our dragon riders and we will help you fight the dragon. We`ve done it once before, and we can do it again." Hiccup said.

"And what if I don`t believe you?" Brand asked.

"Are you really that stubborn, and stupid, that you want to risk all the lives of this tribe?" Hiccup asked and looked at Brand.

Brand looked at him, measuring him and silently questioning him. Then he alowly nodded.

"Deal".

* * *

An hour later, Eyla was on her way to Berk with Hiccup and Toothless. In other corcumstances she would have been happy to go with them to Berk and see how they lived and trained dragons. Now she was just scared for her people and afraid of what the dragon with that tongue was really capable of. It was probably that dragon who started the fire that Hiccup and Toothless saved her from. And that dragon could kill her entire tribe.

Hiccup looked at Eyla sometimes during the flight to Berk. He let her be with her thoughts and fears but kept an eye on her. He remembered the fight with Red Death very well, that was show he lost his leg. But they won, and they could do it again. A small part of him was worried, but the couldn`t just sit back and watch another dragon like that destroy a tribe.


	13. Chapter 13

**Updating a lot faster than usual, but I had already written this chapter when I posted chapter 12. And it will take a while before you get the next chapter. I`m getting closer to end and there will only be a couple of chapters left, and I want them to be as good as possible. I have started writing the next chapter, but don`t know when I will be able to post it. Hopefully soon.**

**This story has over 2,630 views. And 299 views yesterday. Thank you so much! I really appreciate every view, favorite, follow and review. I`m happy that you, at least some of you, like this story as much as I do.**

**I hope you like this chapter! **

* * *

It was late when they arrived to Berk. They landed in front of the Haddock house and Hiccup showed her inside. Valka had woken up and came down the stairs.

"Something happened? Is something wrong?" she asked.

"No, not really right this second, well yeah, but…" Hiccup brgan.

Eyla looked at him a bit amused,

"What he is trying to say", Eyla said and looked at Valka, "is that we saw a Red Death or a gigantic seadragon at the north coast of my island, and he said we are all in danger, and we, well _he, _convinced my father that we need dragons to fight it and to let me come here so I could learn more before we fight it."

"Oh, you are in trouble", Valka said. "A Red Death doesn`t care what it is as long as it is food, and some of the seadragons are pretty much the same, especially if they have been sleeping for hundreds of years."

"And this probably has", Eyla said, "cause we`ve never heard of it."

Valka looked at them. She really wanted to know more, but it was in the middle of the night and they should get some sleep. If they had that kind of dragon at their island, they didn`t have many days until they had to do something.

"I want to know everything, but you should get some sleep", Valka said. She looked at Eyla. "You look very tired."

"I haven`t slept well the last couple of nights."

They only had two bedrooms, so Hiccup offered to sleep by the fireplace, but Eyla said she could do that. Hiccup insisted, but Eyla said it wasn`t a problem. Valka and Hiccuo made a bed for her, then Valka left them and went back to bed.

* * *

Hiccup watched Eyla as she lay on the temporary bed by the fireplace. Her eyes were closed but the didn`t know if she was already asleep. He had his arms crossed, but looked at her with a gentle look.

_I love Astrid, _he thought. _I`ve always loved Astrid._

But what he felt now looking at Eyla, was it more than just caring for her as a friend?

Eyla opened her eyes and sat up.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"No, I.. I just.. I… No." He took a breath. "See you tmorrow. Good night."

"Good night", Eyla said and looked at him as he walked upstairs.

She lay down again, but didn`t close her eyes. After a while she sighed and closed her eyes. She didn`t allow herself to think about it. If she did, maybe she would feel things she shouldn`t, cause she could never have it. He was her friend. That was all.

* * *

Eyla woke up quite early, and so did Hiccup and Valka. While they ate breakfast, they told Valka more about the dragon and what happened at the meeting. After breakfast Hiccup and Eyla went over to Astrid`s house to tell her what was going on, and then they gathered the other dragon riders to tell them.

They met at the arena. Astrid told her that they used to learn how to fight dragons here, but for the last six years they only learned how to train dragons. Eyla wished they had something like this back home. But she was glad her father at least agreed to use dragons to help them. That was a big step in the right direction.

Eyla had to admit, she was a bit nervous to meet the others. She only knew Hiccup and Astrid, and Valka. She didn`t really have to worry. Fishlegs seemed nice. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were one, no two, of a kind, and Snotlout, well she quickly understood why Astrid wasn`t too fond of him, Tuffnut and Ruffnut seemed excited about the gigantic dragon and wanted to go kill it right away. Snotlout tried to seem tougher than he actually was, but didn`really succeed. Maybe he tried to impress Eyla.

"This is serious", Hiccup said. "This is not a game. It wasn`t a game when we fought the Red Death, and it`s not a game now."

"But we are going to kill it, right?" Tuffnut asked.

"Yes."

"Oh yeah!" Tuffnut said and he and Ruffnut banged their heads together.

"So how are we going to do this?" Fishlegs asked, not sounding too enthusiastic.

"First", Hiccup said, " we teach Eyla more about dragon training. She has a dragon that she trained, but she doesn`t really know much about it."

"Then how did she do it?" Snotlout asked. "If she doesn`t know how, did she really train a dragon? I mean…"

"Yes, she did", Hiccup said, trying not to lose his calm. "It`s just… it just comes naturally for some people."

"Then why doesn`t she -"

"Snotlout!" Astrid lost patience.

They called for their dragons and told Eyla about them and she told them the little she knew about Storm. Fishlegs was really interested in Storm and asked a lot of questions. Unfortunately Eyla couldn`t answer most of them, since she didn`t really know that much about him.

* * *

They spent the rest of the day to teach Eyla as much as they could about dragons and training them.. It was really interesting and she enjoyed it very much. She just wished she was here for another reason than trying to save her people and her home.

Valka came to watch them for a little while towards the end of the training. Cloudjumper sat by her side also watching them. It was nice to watch Eyla with the others. Even though it was new to her, somehow it was so natural for her at the same time. Sure she made some mistakes, but there was no doubt she understood dragons and she would be a great dragon trainer some day. It made Valka happy to see.

Valka smiled when Eyla walked towards her when they were done for the day.

"I watched you", Valka said. "It`s nice to see someone so natural and so interested. You will be great one day."

"Thank you", Eyla said, feeling a bit embarrased. No one had ever said anything like that to her before.

She looked at Cloudjumper, who looked at her with his head tilted to the right. Eyla didn`t know why, but she tilted her head a little to the left. There was something about the dragon, that made her feel small, but in a good way. He was intelligent, caring and proud. Eyla raised her hand to touch him, but hesitated and stopped with her hand in the air.

"It`s okay", Valka said with little smile. "You can touch him"

The dragon tilted his head to the left, and then moved closer to Eyla`s hand. It wasn`t like when she touched Storm, but it was still an amazing feeling. The corners of her mouth stretched out to a little smile.

Valka looked at the young woman smiling, and smiled herself. There was a look of wonder in the girl`s face that made Valka happy and gave her hope for the future. There were other people like her and Hiccup, who wanted dragons by their side, who needed them.

* * *

The next day was also spent at the arena learning as much as possible. She enjoyed it this time too, but wished they didn`t have to rush it. She wished she could have been there for a week, or more, and just learn everything about dragons and training them. And then show her people everything she learned, and then teach them and show them that the dragons could be their friends instead of their enemies.

She would get to show them and try to convince them, with the help of her new friends, that dragons were not monsters, and that they needed them to fight that damn dragon that could kill them all.

Eyla got lost in her thoughts and fears, thinking about what could, and would, happen when she got back home with the dragon riders. The mountain-sized dragon could kill all of them. She could lose her family, her tribe, her life.

"Eyla, are you okay?" Astrid asked.

Eyla blinked and realized that everyone was looking at her, including the dragons.

"Yeah, I just started thinking about what will happen, and I… I`m just scared", Eyla said and looked down.

"It will be okay"; Astrid said.

"We`ll help you, and everything`s gonna be okay", Hiccup said. "We will defeat it, and you will be safe."

"But if you don`t?"

"We will."

Eya looked at Hiccup and Astrid and sighed. She nodded slightly.

"Let`s continue then", she said.


	14. Chapter 14

**Thank you so much for all the views. I hope everyone like the story. I hope you will like this chapter. I will try to update soon, and make the chapters longer now that there are not many chapters left. But we`ll see. Maybe I have more to write than I think.**

**I have been asked about a sequel, more than once. And even though I didn`t know, I appreciate it, cause that means you like the story. And now I can tell you that there will be a sequel and I hope you will like that story as much as this one. I can`t promise when I will post it, cause I have to finish this one first and then start writing the new story.**

* * *

Eyla`s head was full of information when they ended the training for the day. During these two days they had taught her about their dragons and their abilities, and told her about other breeds. They also taught her things like, how to approach different dragons, how to best get them to trust you, where they liked to be scratched, and that they had an aversion to eel. Which sometimes could be helpfull, as Hiccup had experienced in the beginning of their own training.

These two days had been amazing, and she loved getting to know more about the dragons she once feared, but now loved. But the reson why she was here, shadowed the joy she felt in the arena.

In the evening, after supper, Eyla went outside to be with Storm, she needed something to distract her from the fear that was building up inside again. She found him just outside the house. The dragon made a purring sound when she burried her head in his scales. She took some deep breaths and hugged the dragon. He put his head against her back, hugging her back.

"Is everything alright?", HIccup asked.

Eyla twitched by surprise and turned to look at him. He saw the worry in her eyes.

"I`m scared, HIccup. I`m really scared." She hugged Storm again when he nudged her. "I know there are seadragons, but I didn`t know they were _that_ big. What if we can`t fight it? What if everything is gone when we get back? What if I lose my family?"

Eyla was so scared she was almost shaking. Hiccup looked at her for a few moments, then he walked over to her and hugged her. He held her for a few moments before he stepped back.

"If they do as I said, they are safe for now", Hiccup said. "And we will fight that dragon, and we will win."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I just am." Hiccup wasn`t as sure as he wanted Eyla to believe, but she needed to believe that. They all needed to believe that. "We fought a Red Death once before, and though it was hard, we defeated it. I have Toothless and I trust him. I trust my friends and their dragons. You have Storm, who trusts you and loves you, and would do anything for you. We`ll win this."

Eyla looked at Hiccup for a few moments, not saying anything.

"You said you became the chief when your father died. Was that when you fought the Red Death?"

"No, he died several years later." Hiccup blinked away some tears. "In another attack." He looked away, didn`t want her to see a tear falling.

Eyla could see that it was hard to talk about and didn`t ask more about it. She was still worried, but she appreciated that Hccup tried to calm her

"Thank you", she said after a little while. "For everything you´ve done for me."

"That`s what friends are for, "Hiccup said and smiled.

* * *

Early in the morning the next day, the dragon riders left Berk. Valka was staying to take care of Berk

while Hiccup was gone. She didn`t mind, even though a part of her wanted to go with them. But she believed that Hiccup would do great on his own with the help of his friends.

Eyla watched the others. Fishlegs seemed a bit nervous. Tuffnut and Ruffnut were excited in their own kind of way, making Eyla roll her eyes and shake her head. But they were kind of amusing at the same time. Hiccup and Astrid both looked determined and Snotlout sat straight with his head held high. Eyla wondered how her people would greet them. She already knew Ben didn`t like Hiccup, then neither did Tork. She wasn`t sure about the others. She could see some similarities between Snotlout and Ben, though she did like Snotlout a little bit better.

* * *

Eyla had enjoyed flying with the others, as much as she could enjoy it, considering. But as they came closer to the island, she started to get afraid again. She was afraid of what they would see; would the whole village be destroyed? Would her family still be alive? She had never been so afraid in her entire life, and the thought about losing everything, losing her parents, it was too much to bear.

Eyla felt just a little bit calmer when they arrived at the island and didn`t see the gigantic dragon, and even more so when she saw some of the villagers walking around in the village, with no rush or panic. Eyla didn`t realize she had held her breath until she breathed out in relief.

They landed and got off their dragons. A group of people came to meet them, among them Ben and Tork. They all kept a safe distance from the dragons. Eyla pointed at Ben to show Astrid who he was.

"These are the dragon riders we were talking about", Eyla said. "Let them take a look around and then we meet and decide how to do this. We have to plan this."

Ben looked at Astrid with interest and Eyla could tell he liked the girl.

"How about a private tour? I can show you around." Ben said to Astrid.

Astrid took the axe she had hanging on her back and moved her wrist, with a twisting action, to make the axe spin in a circle.

"Say hello to my friend", she said.

Eyla couldn`t help but smile. Ben didn`t look happy to be rejected.

"Usually a guy defends his girlfriend", Hiccup said" but she`s had a lot of training with Snotlout and can handle herself".

"Yes" Snotlout said and held his head high. "Wait, what?"

"I`ll show them around and you can tell my father that they, we, are here", Eyla said and looked at Ben and Tork.

"Fine", Ben said but didn`t look too happy.

* * *

The dragon riders took their dragons to the outskirts of the village and left them there to not scare the people. They didn`t want anyone to get hurt, human or dragon.

Eyla showed them around a bit fast just so they would know what it looked like in the village and where things where, and then took them to the Great Hall.

Everyone looked at them when they entered the hall. Eyla felt a little uncomfortable, but the dragon riders didn`t seem to care much, except for Fishlegs. She wasn`t used to having all the attention on her, but she would have to talk to all these people, uncomfortable or not. It wasn`t the first time, but she never liked it, cause there were always someone making fun of her afterwards.

Eyla looked at all the people. She didn`t know what to say, and having all their eyes on her made her nervous. Hiccup and Astrid gave her an encouraging look. Eyla wet her lips and took a deep breath.

"You all know about the dragon… the dragon the size of a mountain… the seadragon…." Eyla closed her eyes. This was not going well.

She felt a hand on her left shoulder and looked at it. It was female. Astrid. Then she felt a hand on her right shoulder and saw a male hand. Hiccup. She cleared her throat and when she spoke her voice was more confident.

"You all know about the seadragon the size of a mountain at the north coast. It can and it will kill all of us. It`s a monster and if we want to survive, we have to fight it, we have to kill it." She looked over the crowd. Everyone was quiet and looking at her. "My father let me go to Berk with Hiccup to bring these people back to help us. And we need their help. They ride dragons."

A murmur of voices was heard. Both Hiccup and Astrid squeezed her shoulders giving her courage to continue.

"They have been riding dragons for several years, and I recently learned that dragons are not monsters. They can be our friends and allies."

"But you just said that the dragon at the north coast is a monster", Longlegs said.

"It is", Eyla said. "It is, but that doesn`t mean that every dragon is a monster. Some dragons can be our best friends."

"How can you call a dragon a best friend?" Gunnar asked with anger in his voice. "They are killers, they are monsters, and I will not cooperate with a dragon!"

Murmurs of agreeing was heard.. Knowing that the dragon riders were standing behind her, and thinking about everything she learned about dragons the last couple of months, gave her strenght.

"But you will have to cooperate with dragons!" Eyla`s voice was strong and determined. "You are all going to have to work with dragons, everyone of you that will be in this fight. Cause the only way to win this, is to work _with _dragons. _We need them. _Wether you like it or not, you`ll have to accept that. We need dragons to fight this thing, if we are going to stand a chance. I want to survive. I want to _live."_

Eyla looked out over the crowd again. They were actually listening to her. They where listening to her.

"So, who will put aside the anger and the fear and learn how to work with a dragon? Who will work side by side with a dragon to fight the real enemy, the real monster?"

It took a few seconds, but then several "Aye" was heard across the hall. Eyla`s father giving the first "Aye". She couldn`t help but feel a little proud of herself. And she loved her father for being the first accept.

"Okay then", HIccup said and stepped forward. "This is how we are going to do…"


	15. Chapter 15

Hiccup told the villagers what they were going to do. They needed a plan for the battle with the dragon, but first of all they had to get to know the dragons. And most importantly, they could not kill the dragons, they had to learn to trust them. Hiccup knew that it would not be easy. And though several men, and some women also, had said "Aye", there were still some objections to working with the dragons.

Just like the people from Berk, they had been fighting dragons for hundreds of years. It was all they knew. Dragons were monsters, killers. They could breathe fire and they would eat you. They were just not something you would have as a pet.

* * *

What made everything worse, was that the island was attacked by dragons that night. They hadn`t been attacked for several weeks now, and now that they had something else to worry about, they were not really prepared.

Eyla was no longer afraid of dragons, but with the attack her old fears came back, and even if she wanted to be outside and help the others defend themselves and make sure that the dragons were not killed, she was too afraid. It made her feel bad, but she couldn`t help it.

Hiccup and his friends on the other hand, tried their best to stop the villagers from killing the dragons, and the dragons from killing the villagers. They were all very busy trying to keep everyone somewhat calm so that the disaster would be a minimum.

This was really not helping with making the villagers more positive to dragons, and where they saw enemies and monsters, Hiccup saw more help defeating the seadragon.

Hiccup saw Gunnar aim at a dragon and ran over there just in time to stop him from throwing the spear.

"No killing!" Hiccup said firmly. "I will not stand here and watch you kill them. We need them, they will help us."

"And how can I be sure that they won`t kill us?" Gunnar asked and glared at him. "They kill us, they always have."

"You just have to trust me on that."

"But that`s the thing, little boy. I don`t know if I do".

Gunnar glared at him and then walked away. Hiccup watched him as he left, and then turned around and ran to a Monstrous Nightmare that was standing in front of a man, to talk them both out of killing each other.

* * *

Eyla couldn`t stand it anymore. She hadn`t been inside that long, but she had to go out there and see what was happening, even if she was still a bit afraid. She was worried about Storm and the other dragons. She knew she should worry about her people, and even if she did, somehow she was more worried about the dragons.

She knew that her new friend`s dragons wouldn`t hurt or kill anyone, but she wasn`t sure about the people. And the wild dragons were… unpredictably unpredictable.

When she came outside, she saw Hiccup talk with a dragon and a man, trying to convince them to not hurt or kill each other. It looked like it worked. She saw Hiccup walk away, but turned around and looked at them. Both dragon and man looked at him before they walked away in opposite directions. She saw him sigh before he walked towards her.

"It`s not going to work, is it?" she asked him.

"It´s going to work", he said and sighed. "We`ll make it work. I just wish this didn`t happen right now. It`s not helping. But we can get more dragons to help in the battle. I already have two."

"But to get more people on the back of dragons. How are we supposed to do that? How did you get your friends to ride dragons?"

"They didn't really have a choice. It was the fastest way to the nest."

Eyla looked around and saw that it wasn`t as bad as she had thought it would be. A house was burning, a fisherman had broken his arm and another one had broken his leg. But no people were dead and no dragons were dead. And they all seemed to calm down. Well, at least some of them

Hiccup had left her to finds his friends, and she was standing there alone when Ben, Tork, Gunnar and some other men came towards her. Weapons in hand and looking very angry.

"How can you say we should work with dragons? They are trying to kill us, like they always do!"

"Dragons are monsters, that will never change!"

They said more things to her, and with their weapons in hand, she felt very uncomfortable. But then Storm came roaring and stopped, standing almost between them. He breathed fire, but the flame wasn`t that big.

"And now what`" Ben asked. "He`s going to kill us?"

"No, he`s defending _me_ from _you_", Eyla said.

They lowered their weapons and stared at her, taken aback by her comment.

"But… but…."

"What were you going to do to me if he hadn`t come? Hurt me?" Eyla looked at them.

When they didn`t reply, she jumped up on Storm`s back and let him take her away from there. He looked at them one last time and snorted.

* * *

Eyla did not have much hope the next day when she woke up. They were supposed to… train her people and try to make them positive towards dragons for a start. But from last night, she thought it was probably useless. It definitely did not help with the situation.

Everyone that was going to be in the battle with the seadragon gathered in a meadow in the woods. Eyla and the dragon riders on one side, and her people on the other side. None of them seemed particularly pleased. Eyla sighed.

"Okay, so Hiccup has already said what we are going to do", Eyla began.

"You can`t expect us to do this after last night!" Tork said.

"Dragons only want to kill us", someone said.

"We need them", Eyla said, but no one was listening.

"I´m not riding on a beast!"

"Why do we need dragons anyway? They only destroy our village!"

"We can´t defeat a giant on our own", Eyla said.

"Are you even sure that thing is still out there?"

"What if the dragons kill us?"

Eyla tried to talk, but they didn`t listen. At first Eyla just wanted to leave and let them do this the best they could, but she couldn`t. And she had had it. She threw her arms up and clenched her hands as she let them fall.

"CAN YOU FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE JUST LISTEN TO ME!"

Everyone got quiet and just stared at her. It worked. Everyone was quiet for a few seconds before Astrid took a few steps forward and threw her axe towards the villagers. Everyone flinched as it landed just a couple of inched from them. The ones closest to the axe took a few steps back.

"Now", Astrid said, "you listen, and you listen good. This is not a test, this is not a game. This is not just to mess with you. This is real. That dragon is _real_. And your only chance is to work with us!"

"You all have to listen to them", Eyla said. "They have done this before, they know what they`re talking about. And for this to go well you have to do exactly like they tell you. You have to work together, man and dragon."

She heard them mumble and talk among themselves, but no one protested.

"Okay then", Eyla said. "We`ll take a short break, only a few minutes, and then the real work starts."

She sighed and watched her people walk away. They didn`t go far. They just spread out on the meadow and among the trees.

"You did good", Hiccup said.

"Now I just hope they listen, do what they are told, and just _try_", Eyla said.

"If they don`t, I will beat them until they do", Astrid said.

Eyla looked at Astrid with a little smile.

"Where were you when I was little? You could have beaten Ben before he made it his hobby to mess with my life."

Astrid smiled.

The chief came walking towards them and the dragon riders left Eyla so she could talk to her father alone. At first none of them said anything.

"You were the first to say 'Aye', why?" Eyla asked.

"You are my daughter", Brand said and looked at her. "And I saw it."

"You what?! But he told you to stay away!"

"He did. But I didn`t go there. I was in the woods. I was at the coast, but I didn`t go to the north coast. But I saw it. I saw the head. And I understood."

"Then why can`t you talk to them, make them understand?"

"Some things you have to figure out on your own. I don`t like that we have to work with the dragons that we fought for hundreds of years. I still think they are monsters. But if that is our only chance…"

He looked at her and then put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it. That was the first time in years that Eyla felt like her father believed in her, that he was proud of her.

He walked away and she just stood here watching him leave.


	16. Chapter 16

After the break, Astrid and Hiccup came with the dragons. The wild dragons had had some quick basic training, just so the dragon riders knew they could handle them. The villagers had to do the rest. Every dragon needed their own rider, and both rider and dragon had to learn to trust each other and work together. Not all of the men would have a dragon to ride, but all of them had to learn to trust them, or at least accept them. There were 8 dragons, so there would be 8 riders.

Some of the men were terrified of the dragons, some pretended that they weren't afraid, but Eyla and her friends could see that they were a little afraid. And some of them just seemed to think they could just not be trusted and hated them. One of them was Gunnar. He wasn`t afraid of the dragons, he just hated them, and to trust them was out of the question. Eyla didn't know how to make him see that the dragons could be wonderful creatures.

The goal for today was just to get the men a little more comfortable around dragons. Eyla didn't know if she thought they succeeded, but it was only the first day. Hopefully next day would be better. They didn't have much time. What made it even worse was that they didn't know how much time they did have.

* * *

Eyla sat on a rock by the water. She had a lantern standing on her left, and Storm was lying behind her. She didn't feel as relaxed as she usually did when she sat by the water. All thanks to that giant monster at the north coast. And now that it was dark she probably wouldn´t even notice it until it was right in front of her. The thought scared her and she shook her head to get rid of the thought. Storm felt her fear and wrapped his wing around her. Eyla was thankful that the dragon was there. And as she looked up at the stars, she knew that no matter what happened, she would be forever grateful for this once in a lifetime experience. He was a dragon, but he was her other half.

* * *

The next day, Eyla and the men walked through the forest to the east coast. When they came there Hiccup and the others were already there with the dragons. All the men would continue to work with the dragons to learn to trust them, and Hiccup and his friends would choose who would ride the dragons. And when they had done that, they would get up on the dragons and learn how to fly them.

Hiccup and Astrid had observed the men a little extra when they worked with the dragons the day before, to see who of them would be a good rider. They had decided about two men rather quickly, and now they just wanted to see if everything went well today as well. They had six other riders to choose too, and Gunnar would most likely not be one of them. He tried though, at least it looked like he was trying, even if unwillingly. But they could all see that he hated the dragons.

Four men had tried riding some of the dragons, Ben and Tork were two of them. They did well for being the first time, but they were not as cocky as they usually were. Eyla couldn`t help but smile when they saw them take off and saw how scared they were even if they pretended they were not.

No one really saw what happened, but suddenly a dragon`s tail hit Gunnar and sent him off the edge. He screamed as he flew through the air and started falling towards the water. It happened so fast, no one had the time to react, they just looked at the man flying through the air.

One of the dragons, a big green dragon, rolled his eyes and sighed before he spread his wings and took off. He looked nothing like Snotlout's Monstrous Nightmare, but the expression he made was similar to the way Hookfang often looked when it came to his rider. They watched the dragon go after Gunnar and catch him before he hit the water.

When Gunnar got his feet on the ground again, they could see that he was scared, but also very angry.

"I told you…" he began, his voice filled with anger, but Eyla cut him off.

"See, I told you, dragons are not that bad…"

"One of them sent me over the edge, and you want me to trust them?!"

"I'm sure it didn`t mean to", Eyla said. "And one dragon went to get you, don`t forget that."

Gunnar glared at her and then he glared at the green dragon, who looked at him and rolled his eyes again.

The dragon riders couldn`t help but find the situation amusing.

* * *

**This chapter is short, but there is finally a new chapter. I haven`t updated in a very long time, but I´ve had writer's block for a long time. Now hopefully you won`t have to wait so long for the next chapter.**


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